<p style="text-align:justify">A new study led by <strong>Luísa Figueiredo, group leader at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes </strong>(iMM; Portugal), and published today in the scientific journal <em>Nature Microbiology </em> found a new strategy by the host to cope with <em>Trypanosoma brucei</em> infection. <em>Trypanosoma brucei </em>is the parasite that causes sleeping sickness in humans, and nagana in cattle, which remain a public health concern and a major economic burden in Sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the response of the infected organism during disease progression paves the way for the development of new treatment strategies.</p>