Abstract
The need to discover new treatments for human schistosomiasis has been an important driver for molecular research on schistosomes, a major breakthrough being the publication of the Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum genomes in 2009. This 'Primer' considers recent advances in the understanding of schistosome biology by providing a snapshot of selected areas of contemporary functional schistosome research, including that on the genome, the tegument, cell signalling and developmental biology, offering biologists a valuable insight into the life of these fascinating parasites at the basic and molecular level.