Quantitative sequencing confirms VSG diversity as central to immune evasion by Trypanosoma brucei

Antigenic variation is central to the virulence of African trypanosomes, where the VSG coat is used to evade the host immune system. Recent advances in technology have now allowed more secrets of this system to emerge, with the surprising insight that a broad repertoire of VSGs is rapidly expressed. This has major implications for how the parasite must evade the host immune response.