From Omics to Prevention and Control

Leishmaniases, a group of parasitic diseases caused by species of the genus Leishmania, a"ict millions of people across the globe and cause signi#cant morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, vaccine and chemotherapy options are limited. $e advances in whole genome sequencing have led to renewed impetus in identifying druggable targets for future development of more e%ective treatments. Hence, the last decade has witnessed a revolution in our understanding of the Leishmania genomes through the completion of an increasing number of genome sequencing projects for several species and strains. However, the completion of a genome sequence is not the #nal product, rather it is just the beginning towards the objective of linking the wealth of data encoded in millions of bases to the biological processes of an organism. Moreover, the genome features (genomics) is only a part of the problem to be solved: the genome yields on transcription, the transcriptome, which in turn yields the proteome on translation, and ultimately the proteins either produce metabolites or are modulated by them. $e size of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics datasets has impelled a new way of analysing data together with the development of potent bioinformatics tools. During their life cycles, Leishmania parasites undergo signi#cant changes in their morphology and metabolism. $ese changes clearly demand a developmental regulation of di%erential gene expression. Moreover, it is now becoming clear that epigenetic control can also regulate other aspects of the parasitic life cycle, including the control of the switch from proliferative to developmental programs, and the adaptations required for host and cellular tropisms.