mSphere of Influence: Systemic decoding gene function in Toxoplasma gondii pathogenesis—CRISPR screens and beyond

Yifan Wang works in the field of molecular parasitology with a focus on host-pathogen interactions. In this mSphere of Influence article, he reflects on how papers entitled “A genome-wide CRISPR screen in Toxoplasma identifies essential apicomplexan genes” by S. M. Sidik, D. Huet, S. M. Ganesan, M.-H. Huynh, et al. (Cell 166:1423.e12–1435.e12, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.08.019) and “Mapping host-microbe transcriptional interactions by dual Perturb-seq” by S. Butterworth, K. Kordova, S. Chandrasekaran, K. K. Thomas, et al. (bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.04.21.537779) made an impact on his research and changed the way he thinks how functional genomics and high-throughput screens provide novel insights into pathogen pathogenesis.