6 ms·
How does a parasite create zombie-like behavior?
- tempodox 11y ago+1. Fascinating topic, very nicely presented. I didn't know this platform exists.
- spoiler 11y agotl;dr ant escapes. Bites human. So it begins; the end. P.S: It's just a joke!
- neonbat 11y agodid you play the last of us? don't joke about this stuff man.
- ignoramous 11y agoAnother very well presented albiet brief introduction on this topic is this Ed Yong TED Talk https://www.ted.com/talks/ed_yong_suicidal_wasps_zombie_roaches_and_other_tales_of_parasites?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/ed_yong_suicidal_wasps_zombie_roac...
- cfontes 11y agoThat talks is awesome thanks for it
- wattengard 11y agoIsn't this the fungus that's the inspration for the Last of Us videogame?
- Angostura 11y agoI haven't come across this crowdfunding platform for research before and I absolutely love it. I suspect quite a few of my pennies will be going here.
- mtrpcic 11y agoIt was formerly known as Microryza, but changed name about 2 years ago to better reflect the broader scope of their goal. My former roommate used to work for them, very cool project.
- fauria 11y agoThe Leucochloridium paradoxum infects snails, making their eyes look like caterpillars, catching birds attention and thus spreading through them. More info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucochloridium_paradoxum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucochloridium_paradoxum
- sofaofthedamned 11y agoChrist, that's scary. If us mammals ever get something similar we'll have a zombie apocalypse going on...
- ericjang 11y agoThat's the basic premise behind the monsters in "The Last of Us": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us
- DonaldFisk 11y agoWe do get something similar: toxoplasmosis. Parasite makes mice lose fear of cats permanently: http://www.nature.com/news/parasite-makes-mice-lose-fear-of-cats-permanently-1.13777 http://www.nature.com/news/parasite-makes-mice-lose-fear-of-... Fatal attraction in rats infected with Toxoplasma gondii: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690701/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690701/ Effects of Toxoplasma on Human Behavior: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2526142/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2526142/
- pvaldes 11y agoPlease do not spread this false ideas. As other diseases toxoplamosis damage nerves in human foetus, either kills or make permanent damages in the nerves. But this is not the same as "converting adult people in remote-controlled robots", there is not a single proof of such evil plan, or that the parasite does this on purpose.
- DonaldFisk 11y ago
- fauria 11y agoThe Leucochloridium paradoxum infects snails, making their eyes look like caterpillars, catching birds attention and thus spreading through them. More info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucochloridium_paradoxum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucochloridium_paradoxum
- hellbanner 11y agoIf you want to lose sleep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs "The caterpillar, instead of building its cocoon to guard itself at night, wraps it around the larval wasps (which previously tore their way out of its body), and will continue to defend them until it starves to death. The biggest danger for these parasitic wasps is being injected with another species of parasitic wasp". EDIT: Wow, what a cool site - crowdfunding experiments!
- mizzao 11y agoDid anyone notice the rest of the site? It seems surprising that this entire project was done with $4,500 of crowdfunding. That seems very cheap. I wonder how much of the project funding came from elsewhere. https://experiment.com/projects/how-does-a-parasite-create-zombie-like-behavior/results#supported_by https://experiment.com/projects/how-does-a-parasite-create-z...
- rflrob 11y agoDepends on how you count. A quick scan of the paper and my fairly fresh knowledge of academic sequencing prices suggests you could do the sequencing for around $3k, with reagents (assuming you don't count the cost of unused reagents). Add in airfare, room, and board to collect the ants and fungus and you're there. Not included: equipment, lab space, stipend (figure 6 months of one grad student, which is astonishingly fast, and that's already $12-15k), and tuition. If you were proposing the same thing to a funding agency like the NIH or NSF, you're looking at ~$60-100k, which still doesn't include a lot of the equipment. I would guess this project was pitched to crowdfunders as "I'm doing all these other experiments, but would also like to do sequencing".
- univalent 11y agoSomewhat related. "The girl with all the gifts", which is on this subject was a great read. Emotional, thought provoking in a sea of horrible zombie related writing/TV.
- ericjang 11y agoScientific content aside, I really think the web is a far superior medium for delivering technical papers. It allows for videos and interactive data exploration. I wish more scientists would publish this way.
- anti-shill 11y agothe globalist corporate parasite creates human zombies by inserting elite-centric propaganda into the school curriculum. By the time the host reaches maturity, it has internalized the dogma of the elite and can thus be used to manufacture consent for political policies that favor global corporations.
- crispy2000 11y agoThis is how it starts: "I became fascinated by fungi when I was a student, and so I decided to do a PhD in fungal genetics. By the end of my PhD I learned through watching BBC’s Planet Earth that certain fungi are able to manipulate insect behavior followed by the growth of beautiful fruiting bodies, leaving behind a rather morbid piece of natural art. The concept of a microbe being able to manipulate an animal’s brain just blew my mind. Ever since, I’ve been working to make the “zombie ants” a model system to study the concept of parasitic behavioral manipulation in detail." She's patient zero.
- pavel_lishin 11y agoI figured she was going to become a supervillain. But maybe I've just been watching too much Venture Brothers.
- pavel_lishin 11y agoCharlie Stross asked about interesting parasites on his blog, recently - the comments section may be relevant, and of interest: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2015/11/a-small-research-question.html http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2015/11/a-small-...
- calinet6 11y agoThis is a beautiful way to present scientific study, much more so than traditional methods! I'd love to see this trend of clarity and storytelling continue for more studies and experimental efforts.