An infection caused by a single-celled parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi: Chagas disease is also called American trypanosomiasis which is transmitted by reduviid bugs, or kissing bugs, that live in cracks and holes of substandard housing primarily found in South and Central America.

These insects become infected after biting an animal or a human who already has Chagas disease.

Infection is spread to humans when an infected bug deposits feces on a person's skin, usually while he or she is sleeping at night. The person often accidentally rubs the feces into the bite wound, an open cut, the eyes, or mouth.

Infected mothers can pass the infection to their baby during pregnancy, at delivery, or while breastfeeding.

Chagas disease causes swelling at the infection site and, if left untreated, develops into a chronic illness that can be asymptomatic or unfelt in most people and can cause digestive, heart, and nervous system failures in other people.

A hereditary and sporadic condition which is characterized by progressive nervous system dysfunction: Neurodegenerative diseases are often associated with atrophy of the affected central or peripheral nervous system structures.

A is one of varied assortments of central nervous system disorders characterized by gradual and progressive loss of neural tissue:

The ability to operate on individual brain cells without killing them in the process could allow scientists to study how the cells regenerate and might lead to better treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.