The contribution of in silico studies in Parasitology: A multifaceted approach | ||||
| Parasitologists United Journal | ||||
| Article 1, Volume 16, Issue 1, April 2023, Page 1-11 PDF (459.09 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Review Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/puj.2023.160249.1188 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
Asmaa Ammar   ; Noha Elleboudy ; Shimaa Mohammed
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| Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| The concept of a technical investigation using computational models (in silico) gained much attention of the scientific community over the past two decades. Though being relatively new, it succeeded in fulfilling several defects, and answering many problems that were left unresolved by the traditional experimental models such as in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro studies. The drawbacks of in vivo models, for instance, include the use of animal models that may not exactly simulate humans; besides carrying risks to humans subjected to the experiment. Because both ex vivo and in vitro studies are conducted outside the body, they do not consider the interactive dynamics taking place inside the human body. Recently, the use of computational models evolved and was implemented in several areas of scientific research. The present review aims to highlight new model applications of in silico studies in parasitic diseases, in order to attain two main outcomes: understanding the parasite biology and the host-parasite relationship. This in return would lead to the identification of potential diagnostic biomarkers, drug targets, vaccine candidates, and new aspects of parasite epidemiology, molecular barcoding, phylogenetic tree construction, population epigenetics as well as suggested potential gene mutations linked to drug resistance. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| computational models; high throughput screening; in silico; parasitology; simulation; virtual screening | ||||
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