The aim of the project is to research virulence factors of significant parasites of humans and livestock in order to exploit their potential for the development of new therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. The project builds on very successful R & D activities in parasitology and combines the efforts of excellent scientific groups of Charles University in Prague (BIOCEV), the Institute of Parasitology of the CAS and the University of Ostrava in Ostrava. The project will improve the quality of results internationally. a.