Scientists identify tRNA modifications key to Chagas parasite's infectious transformation

Deep within the molecular machinery of a parasite that has quietly afflicted seven million people, scientists have found a hidden language written in chemical marks on transfer RNA — a language that tells the organism when to become dangerous. Researchers at institutions spanning Brazil and the United States have identified 170 sites where these molecular modifications differ between the infectious and non-infectious forms of Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause of Chagas disease, using sequencing, mass spectrometry, and CRISPR to decode what was previously unreadable. The discovery does not yet offer