Evelyn Orevaoghene Onosakponome¹*, Ikpeama Roseanne Adah² and Sonrandein Ditimi Bodensibari¹

¹Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
²Department of Medical Laboratory Science, PAMO University of Medical Sciences Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Evelyn Orevaoghene Onosakponome, Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

Received: June 15, 2026; Published: July 24, 2026

Parasitic diseases, particularly malaria, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, toxoplasmosis and schistosomiasis, remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in lowresource settings. Conventional smallmolecule therapies are increasingly compromised by drug resistance and treatmentlimiting toxicity. This review evaluates gene therapy and programmable genomeediting platforms as alternative strategies for preventing and controlling parasitic infections, examining four core molecular mechanisms (direct disruption of essential parasite genes, engineering of host genetic resistance, population‑level vector modification through gene drives, and targeted gene silencing via RNA interference) and to analyse the associated delivery systems, safety profiles, regulatory landscapes, and equity barriers. A narrative review was conducted of experimental studies, preclinical investigations, and earlyphase clinical trials published between 2020 and 2026. Sources included peerreviewed literature indexed in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, together with technical reports from the World Health Organization and international regulatory agencies. The review covers the principal editing platforms (CRISPRCas9, TALENs, ZFNs), delivery vectors (viral, lipid nanoparticle, polymeric and nanotechnologybased carriers), and applications across five major parasitic diseases. Highefficiency disruption of fitnesscritical genes has been demonstrated in Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania spp., Trypanosoma brucei, Toxoplasma gondii and Schistosoma mansoni. Genedrive Anopheles mosquitoes achieved over 95% inheritance bias in insectary trials and suppressed patientderived P. falciparum isolates in contained field evaluations. Markerfree liveattenuated Leishmania vaccines conferred protective immunity without lesion formation. RNA interference delivered by nanoparticle carriers silenced essential genes in parasites lacking canonical RNAi machinery. Delivery performance is constrained by vector immunogenicity, packaging limits, thermostability requirements, and offtarget mutagenesis risk. Regulatory fragmentation, unresolved ethical questions surrounding germline modification and environmental genedrive release, and the prohibitive cost of approved gene therapies (USD 1.5-3.5 million per patient) constitute major barriers to equitable deployment. Genetherapy platforms can disrupt parasite life cycles, enhance host resistance, and modify vector populations. Translating this promise into global health impact will require highfidelity editing tools, thermostable nonviral delivery systems, harmonised regulatory and biosafety frameworks, and openaccess licensing models that embed equity from the earliest stages of product development.

Keywords: CRISPR Cas9; Gene Therapy; Parasitic Infections; RNA Interference; Vectors

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Citation

Citation: Evelyn Orevaoghene Onosakponome., et al. “Gene Therapy Approaches in the Prevention and Control of Parasitic Infections". Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 10.8 (2026): 55-65.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2026 Evelyn Orevaoghene Onosakponome., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.