Cell's new discovery solves a century-old mystery

Scanning electron micrograph of a false-colored pair of worms, showing males (blue) and females (pink)

A team led by researchers at Utah State University has discovered a molecule produced by male parasites called schistosomes that promotes sexual maturation in females of these species

Dr.

"Schistosomiasis doesn't just affect the poor, it prevents them from reaching their full potential and keeps them impoverished," said study leader James Collins, Ph.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 220 million people, most of them children in Africa, Asia and South America, suffer from schistosomiasis

Unlike most hermaphroditic flatworms, schistosomes have males and females, Dr Collins explained

To better understand this phenomenon, Rui Chen, a graduate student in the Collins lab, and Jipeng Wang, Ph.

Because gli1 is a transcription factor responsible for controlling the activity of numerous genes, the researchers identified other genes controlled by gli1 in males that may be key to female sexual maturation

Dr.