# Developing comparative chemical genomics and genetic validation tools for Babesia spp.

> **NIH NIH R21** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · 2020 · $239,250

## Abstract

Project Summary
Babesiosis is an emerging zoonotic disease in the United States, that occurs when a patient is infected with a
Babesia parasite by transmission from ticks, and is a common co-infection of Lyme disease. The disease can
result from infection with various Babesia spp., resulting in everything from an asymptomatic infection to
severe and life-threatening disease. Current treatment options for babesiosis either have severe side effects or
a high risk of treatment failure due to the parasite developing drug resistance. The biology of Babesia parasites
remains poorly studied, in part due to a lack of genetic and biological tools available.
Here, we propose to establish a new approach to rapidly and efficiently identify essential targets of small
molecule inhibitors in multiple Babesia spp. We will interrogate two Babesia spp. that can be cultured in vitro.
We will select for Babesia divergens and Babesia bovis parasite lines that are resistant to high priority small
molecule inhibitors, using chemical mutagenesis to accelerate the process and increase the likelihood of
developing resistance. In order to validate and study the molecular targets of these inhibitors, we will generate
the required genetic and biological tools to study essential proteins in B. divergens, and demonstrate their
efficacy through the genetic validation of PhoDapi, the putative target identified by our laboratory using
resistance evolution against MMV019266.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10042448
- **Project number:** 1R21AI153945-01
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Manoj T Duraisingh
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $239,250
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-12 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10042448

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10042448, Developing comparative chemical genomics and genetic validation tools for Babesia spp. (1R21AI153945-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10042448. Licensed CC0.

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