This Week in Parasitism

Vincent and Dickson move on to protozoan parasites with a discussion of the early history of malaria.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Malaria history at CDC
• Radio New Zealand show on hookworms (thanks James!)
• Tapeworm brain infection serious health concern (thanks Jim!)
• Pig farmers try to limit pork tapeworm spread (thanks Gopal!)
• Bizarre tongue-eating fish parasite (thanks Arsen!)
• Letters read on TWiP 9

Dickson reads his story about sparganosis caused by the diphyllobothroid tapeworm Spirometra mansonoides.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Spirometra life cycle (jpg)
• Dickson on vertical farming (CNN episode on YouTube, thanks Jesse!)
• Laboratory identification of parasites (CDC, thanks Michael!)
• Gold nanoparticles take out brain parasite (Cosmos Magazine, thanks Gary!)
• Letters read on TWiP 8

Vincent and Dickson continue their discourse on tapeworms, covering the fish and dog varieties.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• FAT the enemy that is shortening your life is BANISHED. How? With sanitized tapeworms. Easy to swallow! (jpg).
• D. latum life cycle (jpg)
• D. latum adult (jpg)
• Diphyllobothrim proglottid (jpg)
• Diphyllobothrim bothria (jpg)
• Coracidium hatching from egg (jpg)
• Dog tapeworm life cycle (jpg)
• The Alien lifecycle (jpg)

Vincent and Dick talk about the anatomy and life cycle of beef and pork tapeworms, and why House was wrong about neurocysticercosis.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Taenia saginata life cycle (jpg)
• Taenia saginata adult (jpg)
• Taenia saginata scolex (jpg)
• Taenia saginata gravid proglottid (jpg)
• Taenia solium life cycle (jpg)
• Taenia solium adult (jpg)
• Taenia solium scolex (jpg)
• Facial cancer in Tasmanian devils (thanks PhogDog!)

Science Picks

Dickson Peace through vaccine diplomacy by Peter HotezVincent Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer

Vincent and Dick discuss the nurse cell, a unique structure formed in the host muscle by Trichinella species.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Infective muscle larva (jpg)
• Schematic of a larva invading a muscle cell
• Nurse cell formation (scroll down the page)
• Dickson's gallery of Trichinella images
• Electron micrographs of stichocytes

Weekly Science Picks

Dickson Every Living Thing by Rob Dunn

Vincent and Dick trace the life cycle of Trichinella spiralis in an infected host.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• Trichinella life cycle (jpg)
• Newborn larva entering muscle cell (jpg)
• Adult T. spiralis in columnar epithelial cell (jpg)
• Adult female T. spiralis (jpg)
• Infective first stage T. spiralis larva in Nurse cell in muscle tissue (jpg)
• Adult female T. spiralis with fully formed larvae in uterus (jpg)
• Adult male T. spiralis with claspers on tail (jpg)
• Clinical correlations in trichinosis (jpg)
• Letters read on TWiP #4

Dickson David Scharf's pictures of microbial lifeVincent The Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau

Vincent and Dick distinguish among intracellular and extracellular parasites, then discuss the history and general characteristics of Trichinella spiralis.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

• The History of Trichinella at Trichinella.org
• Parasite genome databases at the European Bioinformatics Institute
• List of parasite genome projects

Dickson The Doctor and the Devils

Vincent and Dick classify parasites according to whether or not they are transmitted by a vector, then consider the implications of long-lived parasites.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dick provide an overview of parasites and parasitism.

Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Dick The Black Cloud by Fred HoyleVincent Parasitic Diseases by Despommier et al.