title: A passion for parasites.
abstract: I knew nothing and had thought nothing about parasites until 1971. In fact, if you had asked me before then, I might have commented that parasites were rather disgusting. I had been at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for three years, and I was on the lookout for a new project. In 1971, I came across a paper in the Journal of Molecular Biology by Larry Simpson, a classmate of mine in graduate school. Larry's paper described a remarkable DNA structure known as kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), isolated from a parasite. kDNA, the mitochondrial genome of trypanosomatids, is a DNA network composed of several thousand interlocked DNA rings. Almost nothing was known about it. I was looking for a project on DNA replication, and I wanted it to be both challenging and important. I had no doubt that working with kDNA would be a challenge, as I would be exploring uncharted territory. I was also sure that the project would be important when I learned that parasites with kDNA threaten huge populations in underdeveloped tropical countries. Looking again at Larry's paper, I found the electron micrographs of the kDNA networks to be rather beautiful. I decided to take a chance on kDNA. Little did I know then that I would devote the next forty years of my life to studying kDNA replication.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205 penglund@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Englund
mesh_terms: D004261:DNA Replication; D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast / Q000235:genetics / Q000266:history / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016787:Haemosporida / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D016830:Kinetoplastida / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast; D015800:Protozoan Proteins
keywords: DNA Replication; DNA Topoisomerase; Mitochondrial DNA; Trypanosoma brucei