Schistosome Related Research Reagents

The Schistosome Related Reagent Repository was launched by NIAID to serve as a central facility for the collection and long-term storage of schistosome and snail-host related reagents. This resource will allow scientists: 1) improved access to parasite, snail/mammal, and related reagents; and 2) availability of these standardized reagents in a renewable form. The purpose of this repository is to provide easy access to standardized and well-characterized material, generated by numerous investigators, towards a better understanding of the biology of the schistosome parasites and their intermediate snail and mammal hosts.

The Schistosome Related Reagent Repository contract provides life-cycle stages of several strains of the 3 medically important schistosomes- Schistosoma mansoni S. haematobium and S. japonicum. Types of schistosome and snail/mammal reagents maintained and distributed by the repository includes:

  • Exposed and Unexposed Snails, Mice and Hamster Hosts of Schistosomes
  • Bge Snail Cell Line
  • Genomic DNA and RNA
  • Molecular biology reagents: Primers, Genomic libraries, cDNA libraries, and Cosmid libraries.

The Schistosomiasis Resource Center (SRC) www.afbr-bri.org is part of the Biomedical Research Institute (BRI) in Rockville, Maryland. In 2010, BEI Resources became the web-based storefront for ordering schistosomiasis reagents. Schistosoma parasites are available through snail and rodent host distribution from BRI. Molecular products, including nucleic acid and cDNA libraries of Schistosoma life cycle stages, are distributed from BEI Resources in Manassas, VA.