Schistosome and Snail Resource (SSR)
A new biomedical resource.
Schistosome and Snail Resource (SSR) is Wellcome Trust funded, open access biomedical resource that aims to generate and make freely available live schistosome life-cycle stages, snail intermediate hosts and related material for schistosomiasis research.
SSR is a collaboration between the Natural History Museum and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
While substantial advances have been made in the control of human schistosomiasis, the diversity and complexity of schistosomes and their specific fresh-water snail hosts warrants fundamental research requiring lifecycles, live material and diverse collections. Without the availability of Schistosoma lifecycles, future research faces substantial obstacles; currently very few labs are able to maintain the parasites and/or the snail hosts and current long-term cultures/collections lack the genetic heterogeneity observed in natural populations. The SSR will address these issues and advance research on schistosomiasis.
The SSR proves access to:
- Standard/SSR model' Schistosoma and snail species.
- Non-standard key African species/strains of schistosome and snails.
- Cultures of diverse snail vectors, enhancing current research and capacity while enabling new research avenues.
"Our historical expertise in establishing and maintaining unique schistosome and snail isolates/collections from different endemic settings, together with our state-of-the art snail facility (NHM) and LSHTM rodent facility will facilitate the development of the resource."
The SSR will add considerable value by facilitating priority research needed to support schistosomiasis control and elimination.
For more information email: ssr [at] lshtm [dot] ac [dot] uk