What is it about?

Our blood cells are usually "passive passengers" and they travel wherever the heart pumps them. They don't have flagella or motors to move on their own. However, our research into Babesia microti, a parasite spread by ticks, revealed a startling transformation. We discovered that when this parasite infects a red blood cell, it can "hijack" the cell’s structure to make it move in a manner similar to a hamster in a ball. Using a specialized microfluidic system we call μ-Blood, we could visualize how parasites interact with red blood cells. We used a confocal microscope to watch as red blood cells began to move independently at speeds similar to our own immune cells, which makes for a tough matched game of tag. This is a behavior never before documented in these types of infected red blood cells.

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Why is it important?

This discovery changes how we think about how diseases spread through the blood. By turning a red blood cell into a "getaway vehicle," the Babesia parasite may be able to navigate to specific parts of the body, evade the immune system by hiding inside a host cell while still staying mobile, and spread the infection more efficiently to healthy red blood cells. By understanding what the parasite uses to drive these cells, we can look for new ways to cut the fuel line. If we can stop this movement, we might be able to trap the parasite and allow the body's natural defenses to clear the infection more effectively.

Perspectives

While malaria is a well-recognized blood-borne disease, Babesia microti remains dangerously understudied despite its biological similarities and growing impact on public health. Because babesiosis is transmitted by ticks rather than mosquitoes and has proven notoriously difficult to culture, progress has been hindered by the limitations of mouse models. Our team recognized an urgent need to bridge this gap and raise awareness of babesiosis, motivated in part by NIH calls to address emerging tick-borne diseases and the momentum of the Kay Hagan Tick Act. By developing an in vitro platform, we moved beyond these traditional mouse model constraints to observe the parasite’s behavior in real time and uncover the underlying dynamics of infection.

Tagbo H.R. Niepa
Carnegie Mellon University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Acquired motility of Babesia microti –infected red blood cells, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2509776123.
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