Figure 2.

Bread: Chuma—the Strong Cow. Sub-Saharan Africa is infested with tsetse flies (green zone) that infect cattle and other animals such as cattle with African trypanosomes (see the long slender cell in the image of the dead cow), resulting in a wasting disease that is fatal. Some African primates are naturally resistant to these parasites. A baboon gene has been identified that, when given transiently to mice, completely protects them from infection with trypanosomes. The goal of this project is to determine whether this baboon gene can protect cattle, thereby allowing the raising of cattle in the tsetse belt and thus aiding the smallholder farmer.