Myxozoa are microscopic parasites that infect fish, amphibians, and now, birds and at least one terrestrial mammal. For over a hundred years they were classified at protozoa. More recent research reveals that classification to be wide of the mark:
They’re jellyfish.
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posted by Herodios
on Sep 1, 2011 -
34 comments
Ms. Serrao wanted to remove the wriggling, chewing larva as soon as possible, but she also realized that the botfly in her head presented a unique opportunity for a nature photographer. As a result, she videotaped herself and the efforts by her surprisingly stoic husband, Greg Hiemenz, to remove the worm-like creature. A Vacation Bug That Keeps Biting. With, of course,
video.
posted by dersins
on Sep 16, 2009 -
108 comments
Devil facial tumor disease has ravaged the population of Tasmanian Devils in the last decade. DFTD is a
transmissible cancer, i.e. the tumor cells themselves (which differ genetically from their host animal) are the agent responsible. The disease is spread by biting and other contact, and the resulting grotesque tumors interfere with feeding and lead to starvation.
Poor immune response may be partially responsible. This is actually not the only such disease: canine transmissible venereal tumor is an
analogue that has been known to be contagious since the 19th century. (CTVT, however, gets a proper immune response.)
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posted by parudox
on Oct 29, 2007 -
7 comments
A worm that builds a home inside the human body, lives there happily until breeding time, then begins a journey to emerge from the skin and find a body of water to lay its eggs in. Although this may very well be a pleasant journey for the worm, for the human, it's an excrutiating one. And so we begin
The Tale of the Guinea Worm.
posted by Space Coyote
on Jun 14, 2004 -
9 comments
My very own parasite "I swear it had two beady eyes on it. And it came out two or three inches, looked around and then retracted. I thought it was a dream, a vision of some sort." The yuck factor of our 'little friends' vs. the yuck factor of
Flushing PCB's into your nursing infant through breast feeding (
"Study finds a cocktail of potentially harmful man-made chemicals in every person tested in UK...") On our day of public gnawing on bird chunks, I ask : which of the above is yuckier? And does anyone out there have a juicy parasite tale to share?
posted by troutfishing
on Nov 27, 2003 -
45 comments
Doing science by stealth Scientists have found a way of subverting the error checking mechanisms of web servers to allow them to perform calculations without the owners permission. This "Parasitic computing" could potentially use the internet as a single giant distributed computer.
posted by astro38
on Aug 30, 2001 -
5 comments
Malaria is one of the planet's deadliest diseases and one of the leading causes of sickness and death in the developing world. According to the World Health Organization there are 300 to 500 million clinical cases of malaria each year resulting in 1.5 to 2.7 million deaths.
Malaria is a public health problem today in more than 90 countries, inhabited by a total of some 2 400 million people -- 40% of the world's population. It is also notoriously difficult to combat because of the parasite's ability to easily evade the body's immune system.
Nature Update has an article on the possibilities of designing a malarial vaccine which stimulates the immune response and has the potential of protecting people from all strains of the disease.
posted by lagado
on Nov 2, 2000 -
0 comments
