Latest Parasitism Stories

An international team led by researchers from the University of Cordoba (UCO) has analyzed seroprevalence (antibodies to a disease) of Toxoplasma Gondii, the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis in many species, including humans. This latest study reveals that the parasite is widespread in areas where the wild Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) lives, and also in captive breeding centers. Scientists are now undertaking further research into the disease itself.Wild felids are important for maintaining...

Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that a protein from a soil bacterium used to kill insects naturally on organic crops is a highly effective treatment for intestinal parasitic roundworms. These parasites, which include hookworms and whipworms, infect about two billion people in underdeveloped tropical regions and are cumulatively one of the leading causes of debilitation worldwide.The scientists report in the March 2 issue of the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases,...

The team observed viruses as they evolved over hundreds of generations to infect bacteria. They found that when the bacteria could evolve defenses, the viruses evolved at a quicker rate and generated greater diversity, compared to situations where the bacteria were unable to adapt to the viral infection.The study shows, for the first time, that the American evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen was correct in his 'Red Queen Hypothesis'. The theory, first put forward in the 1970s, was named...

Multinational team of researchers focuses on how parasites use enzymes to survive and spread diseaseMalaria causes more than two million deaths each year, but an expert multinational team battling the global spread of drug-resistant parasites has made a breakthrough in the search for better treatment. Better understanding of the make-up of these parasites and the way they reproduce has enabled an international team, led by John Dalton, a biochemist in McGill's Institute of Parasitology, to...

They haven't had sex in some 30 million years, but some very small invertebrates named bdelloid rotifers are still shocking biologists "“ they should have gone extinct long ago. Cornell researchers have discovered the secret to their evolutionary longevity: these rotifers are microscopic escape artists. When facing pathogens, they dry up and are promptly gone with the wind."These animals have evolved a way to avoid parasites and pathogens by drying up and blowing away," said Paul...

UCI, French finding could complicate quest to eradicate deadly disease in humansThe parasite that causes malignant malaria in humans has been detected in gorillas, along with two new species of malaria parasites, reports a study co-authored by UC Irvine biologist Francisco Ayala.The study also confirms a recent discovery by Ayala and colleagues that human malignant malaria, caused by Plasmodium falciparum, originated from a closely related parasite found in chimpanzees in equatorial Africa....

Researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Georgia have developed an improved, more efficient method to test for the most serious of the parasitic worms in sheep, a problem that causes hundreds of millions of dollars in losses every year to the global sheep and wool industry.This technology is now available, and will allow a faster, easier and less expensive way to test for the presence and quantity of Haemonchus contortus, or "barber pole" worms, a species that is very...

Darwin's finches develop antibodies to flies, pox virusUnlike Hawaii and other island groups, no native bird has gone extinct in the Galapagos Islands, although some are in danger. But University of Utah biologists found that finches "“ the birds Darwin studied "“ develop antibodies against two parasites that moved to the Galapagos, suggesting the birds can fight the alien invaders.With the discovery that the medium ground finches produce antibodies aimed specifically at the parasites...

How do one-celled parasites move from the salivary gland of a mosquito through a person's skin into red blood cells? What molecular mechanisms form the basis for this very important movement of the protozoa? A team of researchers headed by Dr. Friedrich Frischknecht, head of a research group at the Department of Infectious Diseases at Heidelberg University Hospital, observed the initial stage of the malaria parasite that is transmitted by mosquitoes with new microscope techniques. They...

The parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (or T. cruzi), which causes Chagas' disease, will go to great lengths to evade death once it has infected human host cells, researchers have discovered. In a study published in the November 17 online issue of Science Signaling, the researchers describe how a protein called parasite-derived neurotrophic factor (PDNF) prolongs the life of the T. cruzi parasite by activating anti-apoptotic (or anti-cell-death) molecules in the host cell. These protective mechanisms...