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UrduIf you’re a fan of HBO’s post-apocalyptic series “The Last of Us” – or the video game that inspired it – you’ve probably heard the term Cordyceps. In the show, the parasitic fungus has mutated, graduating from infecting insects to humans – transforming them into mind-controlled zombies. But it’s not all science fiction. Niels-Viggo Hobbs Ph.D. ’16, a University of Rhode Island assistant teaching professor in biological sciences, lends his expertise to carefully walk us through the world of Cordyceps.
Tag: PARASITOLOGY
Mapping Lyme disease out west
Tick bites transmit Lyme disease. But even knowing where these ticks live doesn’t necessarily mean you can predict the disease in humans.
Wildlife’s Worm-Wide Web
Many of us try to repress the thought of them, while others have come to accept them. Whatever your take on parasites is, they can tell scientists a lot about ecology, health and the environment.
How does the structure of cytolysins influence their activity?
Although Enterococcus faecalis is usually an innocuous member of the bacterial community in the human gut, it can also cause several infections, including liver disorders. The bacteria produce cytolysins, which are molecules that destroy cells. In a new study, researchers…
Mycoplasma mobile moves into overdrive: Twin motor modified from ATP synthase discovered
Scientists discover gliding machinery for Mycoplasma mobile to be a new structure that could share ancestry with ATP synthase
A new avenue for fighting drug-resistant bacteria
Targeting an RNA sequence in pathogenic bacteria could make them more sensitive to antibiotics
Neonatal meningitis: the immaturity of microbiota and epithelial barriers implicated
Meningitis is associated with high mortality and frequently causes severe sequelae. Newborn infants are particularly susceptible to this type of infection; they develop meningitis 30 times more often than the general population. Group B streptococcus (GBS) bacteria are the most…
‘Smart collar’ could prevent tapeworms in dogs
Dogs infected with echinococcosis play a major role in spreading tapeworms across human populations around the world. Now, researchers have developed a “smart collar” which gradually delivers a steady dose of a deworming drug to dogs. The collar successfully reduces…
Science on a shoestring
A life in the liberal arts from beginning to end
Microscopic CCTV reveals secrets of malaria invasion
State-of-the-art video microscopy has enabled researchers at WEHI, Australia, to see the molecular details of how malaria parasites invade red blood cells – a key step in the disease. The researchers used a custom-built lattice light sheet microscope – the…
As climates change, prepare for more mosquitoes in winter, new study shows
Mosquitoes can adjust to rapid changes in temperature, indicating that mosquitoes normally dormant during winter may become active year-round
NYUAD study offers new insight into one of the mysteries of natural immunity to malaria
Researchers compared metabolic responses to human malaria in children of different populations
Optimizing immunization with Sanaria® PfSPZ-CVac malaria vaccine
ROCKVILLE, MD, USA – June 8, 2021 – The PfSPZ malaria vaccines of Sanaria Inc. are unique in vaccine development as they are composed of weakened (attenuated) forms of the live parasite cells that cause malaria. These parasite cells are…
Fungus creates a fast track for carbon
Stanford scientists find epidemics of fungal infections in algae alter carbon cycling
Why do some people get sick while others feel fine?
The answer is something infectious disease experts are working to uncover. As COVID-19 revealed, the same pathogen can have widely varying outcomes in different people. Laura-Isobel McCall, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the University…
Beneficial arthropods find winter sanctuary in uncultivated field edges, study finds
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Many species of ground-dwelling beetles, ladybugs, hoverflies, damsel bugs, spiders and parasitic wasps kill and eat pest species that routinely plague farmers, including aphids and corn rootworm larvae and adults. But the beneficial arthropods that live in…
Malaria parasite’s partiality for the spleen
The malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax may accumulate in the spleen soon after infection to a greater extent than its better-known relative P. falciparum, according to new research published by John Woodford of the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia and colleagues…
Watch me move it, move it: Gliding structure in Mycoplasma mobile revealed
Researchers detect internal motor structure of Mycoplasma mobile using high-speed atomic force microscopy
Atlas of malaria parasite gene activity provides new targets for drugs and vaccines
Researchers have mapped in fine detail the genetic changes malaria parasites go through as they prepare to infect people. The atlas maps the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in unprecedented cellular detail as it develops inside a mosquito and prepares to…
Fungus fights mites that harm honey bees
New fungus strain could provide a chemical-free method to help honey bees
Vaccine target for devastating livestock disease could change lives of millions
The first ever vaccine target for trypanosomes, a family of parasites that cause devastating disease in animals and humans, has been discovered by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. By targeting a protein on the cell surface of the parasite…
Parasites as fountains of youth: Study finds infected ants live much longer
Life expectancy of tapeworm-infected worker ants is significantly higher than that of their uninfected nest-mates and resembles that of ant queens
Partners in crime: Agricultural pest that relies on bacteria to overcome plant defenses
Scientists confirm that certain insect larvae host bacteria that help shut down plant defense mechanisms
Salmon virus originally from the Atlantic, spread to wild Pacific salmon from farms: Study
Study finds Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) is now almost ubiquitous in salmon farms in British Columbia, Canada.
Conservation success leads to new challenges for endangered mountain gorillas
As gorilla population increases, so may their risk of infectious diseases
New model for infectious disease could better predict future pandemics
Potential benefits to health across species, communities and environments are enormous
How to become ‘ant-i-social’
Study shows erosion of ant genome tied to loss of functional, behavioral and social traits in 3 inquiline species
How to become ‘ant-i-social’
Study shows erosion of ant genome tied to loss of functional, behavioral and social traits in 3 inquiline species
Soybean cyst nematode is the most damaging soybean pathogen–and it’s rapidly spreading
The soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the most damaging pathogen of soybean in the United States and Canada and it is spreading rapidly, according to information compiled by Gregory Tylka and Christopher Marett, nematologists at Iowa State University. SCN was…
200-year-old poop shows rural elites in New England had parasitic infections
Study finds parasites in fecal samples from the 1830s-1840s in privy on Dartmouth’s campus
Announcing the 2021 BioOne Ambassador Award Winners
WASHINGTON, D.C. — BioOne ( about.BioOne.org ) is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 BioOne Ambassador Award . These five early-career bioscience researchers successfully advanced through a rigorous competition with their peers. BioOne honors these scholars for their…
Certain gut microbes make mosquitoes more prone to carry malaria parasite
Dietary sugars and gut microbes play a key role in promoting malaria parasite infection in mosquitoes. Researchers in China have uncovered evidence that mosquitoes fed a sugar diet show an increased abundance of the bacterial species Asaia bogorensis, which enhances…
Mysteries of malaria infections deepen after human trial study
Scientists have discovered that tracking malaria as it develops in humans is a powerful way to detect how the malaria parasite causes a range of infection outcomes in its host
What is killing bald eagles in the U.S.?
Bald eagles, as well as other wildlife, have been succumbing to a mysterious neurodegenerative disease in the southern United States since the 1990s. New research by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in Germany and the University of Georgia, USA,…
Arsenal used by parasite to affect cellular defense and enhance leishmaniasis is revealed
Group affiliated with a FAPESP-supported research center showed that the parasite blocks the action of an enzyme using autophagy
Viruses: Evolution on the outskirts
Despite the fact that viruses are among the simplest biological entities–consisting only of DNA or RNA encapsulated in a protein shell–they can have devastating consequences, with viruses such as influenza, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and Ebola having dramatically affected the…
New discoveries on deadly fungus – might be a key for treatment
Aspergillus fumigatus kills as many people as malaria and tuberculosis, but is less known. It is found “everywhere”, for example in the soil or in our compost, but is not normally dangerous to healthy people. Those who die from it…
Dogs infected with Leishmania parasites smell more attractive to female sand flies
Dogs infected with the Leishmania parasite smell more attractive to female sand flies than males, say researchers. The study published in PLOS Pathogens is led by Professor Gordon Hamilton of Lancaster University. In Brazil, the parasite Leishmania infantum is transmitted…
Effective interventions may prevent disease transmission in changing climate
Study suggests that extreme climate events may increase mosquito populations in Kenya
Parasites may make dogs smell good to insect vector
The protist parasite Leishmania infantum can alter its host’s odor to attract female sand flies, which transmit the pathogen, according to a study published March 18th in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Monica Staniek of Lancaster University and Gordon…
Artificial light affects plant pollination even during the daytime
The use of artificial light at night around the world has increased enormously in recent years, causing adverse effects on the survival and reproduction of nocturnal organisms. Artificial light at night interferes with vital ecological processes such as the nighttime…
MSU scientists one million ‘hops’ closer to ending a disease endemic in cattle
Many people have never heard of Brucellosis, but farmers and ranchers in the United States forced to cull animals that test positive for the disease and people infected by the animal-transmitted Brucella abortus ( B. abortus ) pathogen that suffer…
Blight may increase public health risk from mosquito-borne diseases
Louisiana State University researchers recently published findings that blight leads to an increased abundance of disease-carrying mosquitoes. The researchers investigated the presence of several mosquito species in two adjacent but socio-economically contrasting neighborhoods in Baton Rouge: the historic Garden District,…
The skeleton of the malaria parasite reveals its secrets
Research teams from UNIGE have discovered that the cytoskeleton of the malaria parasite comprises a vestigial form of an organelle called conoid, initially thought to be absent from this species and which could play a role in host invasion.
Rising antiparasitic drug cost in U.S. leads to higher patient costs, decreased quality of care
Rural areas have higher prevalence of the diseases that use these drugs for treatment
Water temperature key to schistosomiasis risk and prevention strategies
Climate change will increase schistosomiasis risk in regions where surface water moves closer to 21.7 degrees centigrade
Tracing malaria’s ecology using blood samples from birds
Malaria is the deadliest pathogen in human history. Nearly half the people on Earth are at risk of contracting the disease from the parasites that cause it. But humans aren’t the only ones who can get these parasites–different forms are…
Paw hygiene no reason to ban assistance dogs from hospitals
Assistance dogs’ paws are cleaner than their users’ shoe soles, Utrecht University researchers discover
Agents of food-borne zoonoses confirmed to parasitise newly-recorded in Thailand snails
Parasitic flatworms known as agents of food-borne zoonoses were confirmed to use several species of thiarid snails, commonly found in freshwater and brackish environments in southeast Asia, as their first intermediate host. These parasites can cause severe ocular infections in…
Targeted spraying to prevent malaria in low-transmission setting halves cost of current practice
A study by Wits University scientists and partners has proved that a targeted malaria transmission prevention intervention is not inferior to the ‘blanket’ approach