Pubic lice leapt from gorillas to early humans

The evolutionary tree shows how pubic lice – Pthirus pubis and Pthirus gorillae – afflict humans and gorillas. Humans and chimps, meanwhile, can host Pediculus head lice (Illustration: J W Demastes/T Choe/V S Smith)

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Parasitic gut worms, such as hookworm, might aid the development of new treatments for asthma and other allergies, a study in Vietnam suggests.

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By the end of this year, the world is projected to reach an unheralded but historic milestone: Half of the fish and shellfish we consume will be raised by humans, rather than caught in the wild.

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Scientists have shown how flesh-eating parasites responsible for the disfiguring tropical disease leishmaniasis dupe the immune system.

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Parasitic infections and other diseases usually associated with the developing world are cropping up with alarming frequency among U.S. poor, especially in states along the U.S.-Mexico border, the rural South and in Appalachia, according to researchers.

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Malaria may have jumped to humans from chimpanzees much as AIDS did, U.S. researchers reported on Monday in a study they hope could help in developing a vaccine against the infection.

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"Despite its central role in biology, sex is a bit of an evolutionary mystery. Reproducing without sex—like microbes, some plants and even a few reptiles—would seem like a better way to go. Every individual in an asexual species has the ability to reproduce on its own.

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This article describes an amazing example of manipulation of host behavior by a parasite. The fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is a parasite of arboreal Camponotus leonardi ants.

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Why do we have sex? From an evolutionary perspective, the answer is not as obvious as we might think. And now, a fascinating new study in American Naturalist suggests that sex may have evolved primarily as a defense against parasites.

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STRAY dogs are commuting to and from a city centre on underground trains in search of food scraps. The clever canines board the Tube each morning.

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For the first time, scientists have isolated the parasite Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) from professional apiaries suffering from honey bee colony depopulation syndrome. They then went on to treat the infection with complete success.

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Scientists have discovered how the toxoplasmosis parasite may trigger the development of schizophrenia and other bipolar disorders.

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The strange paths that evolution can take are staggering. This short documentary shows that well.

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Essentially, the caterpillars produce their own poison, says Jean-Michel Drezen, a molecular biologist at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Tours, France, who led the study.

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ScienceDaily (Feb. 6, 2009) — Reed warblers use mobbing as a front line of nest defense against parasitic cuckoos, according to a new report published online on January 29th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

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They DO have a purpose other than pissing us off... Maybe.

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It might sound like something out of sci-fi, but plenty of parasites can control the minds of caterpillars, roaches, crabs and maybe even us. In many cases, scientists don't know exactly how these creatures achieve mind control.

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Drenched parasites

Shoot the moon hide the sun in your darkness burn the yellow grass blow this cloud away into the endless ocean where the whispering air strikes me away Unable to see to see the self lacking the vision am I afraid to see if I could would I like what I see?

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These worms, or helminths, have a paradoxical effect on the host. Rather than induce inflammation, which is the body's typical response to invasion, the intruders calm the host immune system.

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Inside the caterpillar host, a cruel drama takes place: the eggs of the parasitoid hatch and the larvae feed on the body fluids of the host. The caterpillar continues feeding, moving and growing like its unparasitized brothers and sisters.

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On Tuesday morning, after his father came to his bedroom and told him to get ready for school, 13-year-old Daniel Smith couldn't move his body to get down from his bunk bed. He couldn't lift his legs or even swallow.

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An American woman has been put in quarantine by police after they found that her skin was crawling with nearly invisible bloodsucking parasites from an infested bird's nest in her home. The woman has been taken to a hospital quarantine unit.

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from the blog post: The US military lost more soldiers in the first 5 years of the Clinton Presidency than the US military lost in the first 5 years in Iraq.

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The noses used to sniff out anything from cocaine to bombs are now being used to sniff out another menace – bed bugs. A New York company is offering the services of a pack of six dogs who can sniff out bed bugs from apartments, hotels and hospitals in New York City.

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It is the world's deadliest disease, killing more than 900,000 a year in Africa alone. But can Bill Gates's dollars create a vaccine that would save a continent's children?

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Kraft Foods, the conglomerate built on macaroni and cheese, is working on a new and unusual product line — food that is not only tasty, but kills intestinal worms.

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