An Optical "Seek-and-Destroy" System To Vaccinate Against Leishmania Infection

Owain Millington and Gail McConnell of University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom seek to adapt existing imaging systems to provide non-invasive in vivo imaging of Leishmania parasites present in macrophages and dendritic cells, and then use a targeted laser to destroy them. They will also test the hypothesis that targeting these cells for destruction will stimulate protective immunity against future Leishmania parasite infections.