Parasites

[modest]

Originally Posted by freeztar

I'm with Modest, I can't fathom how these traits could have evolved.

And, especially when you juxtapose how easily a host could evolve a defensive mechanism compared to the parasite evolving a life-cycle that depends on controlling another species' actions and invading multiple hosts by getting them to interact with each other. For example, with the ant-invading parasite: all the ant needs to add to its genetics is a dislike for snail juice and the parasite is out of luck.

then again...

Perhaps the parasite's traits that seem so complex evolved in order to counter the defense mechanisms thrown at them. If cows slowly stopped eating ants as a defense mechanism - the parasite could slowly evolve ways of making the ant more accessible. This would maybe end up with the freaky kind of mind-control the parasite inflicts.

given enough time...

The parasite evolves into an evil race of Goa'uld intent on dominating the galaxy and enslaving mankind

[mynah]

Strepsiptera are pretty strange, too: They undergo metamorphosis twice, actually extend the lifespan of their host (albeit at a not so small price ) and the female mates and gives birth through her head. There's a good description at the Pharyngula website. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to post links yet.

[Michaelangelica]

The little buggers have been around for along time and we still cary some with us!
perhaps we would not be as we are today with out them?

New explanation for how regulatory networks of genes evolved
Medical Science News
Published: Thursday, 15-Nov-2007

When ancient retroviruses slipped bits of their DNA into the primate genome millions of years ago, they successfully preserved their own genetic legacy.

Today an estimated 8 percent of the human genetic code consists of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs)--the DNA remnants from these so-called "selfish parasites."

New explanation for how regulatory networks of genes evolved

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

The little buggers have been around for along time and we still cary some with us!
perhaps we would not be as we are today with out them?

New explanation for how regulatory networks of genes evolved

There is another article on this in post #33 of this thread. Inasmuch as the little buggers predate us, it strikes me as a parent (apparent ) that we are what we are because of them and not inspite of them.

Just had to bug you a bit on this one Micha! G'donya for playing.

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Turtle

There is another article on this in post #33 of this thread. Inasmuch as the little buggers predate us, it strikes me as a parent (apparent ) that we are what we are because of them and not inspite of them.

Just had to bug you a bit on this one Micha! G'donya for playing.

Thanks/sorry Turtle I missed that.

Don't you find this REALLY mind-bogglingly amazing?

I mean the 1% DNA that is the difference between us and chimps is probably parasite?
A parasite that has decided to 'turn on ' some of our genes.
That, therefore, makes us what we are !
And just what is that?
Just who are we? ' a congregation of vapours. . ." -" the quintessence of dust. .'
-a walking bag of an assorted "stamp collection" of various DNAs in water?

Viruses prey upon all living organisms, turning them into virus Xerox machines.

"It's not a living organism," said immunologist Fabio Romerio of the Institute of Human Virology, founded and directed by Gallo.
"It's simply a well organized molecular parasite."

Inside Look: How Viruses Invade Us | LiveScience

Today an estimated 8 percent of the human genetic code consists of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs)--the DNA remnants from these so-called "selfish parasites."

New explanation for how regulatory networks of genes evolved
So can a viral parasite jump-start evolution & natural selection?
So could some Homo spaiens (var.X) "X-Men" appear to-morrow?


Interesting too, how they are discovering that so many cancers & leukaemia are caused by viruses.
Is cancer just a genetic adaptation that failed and killed its host?

"The world is not only stranger then we know. It is stranger than we can know."

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Thanks/sorry Turtle I missed that.

Don't you find this REALLY mind-bogglingly amazing?

...Just who are we? ' a congregation of vapours. . ." -" the quintessence of dust. .'
-a walking bag of an assorted "stamp collection" of various DNAs in water?

No worries. Absolutely mind-bogglingly amazingatious to say the least. Your line reminded me of an old Star Trek episode wherein the 'evil' alien refers to the humans as 'bags of water'. So we are. Whatever the penultimate knowledge we may have of all the particulars, we peeps make a model model of emergence. Que sera sera.

[Michaelangelica]

I used to sing Que sera sera. (badly)

Everytime I get a notification of a new post for this tread I also get a list of people wanting to scare me about parasites and sell me a cure!
Some are pretty scary
SEE
Parasite Picture Gallery

Experts claim that 'some type of worm is already in the intestines of over 75 percent of the world's population'. This is a frightening statement.

That is one mean looking "Alien #3" hookworm
and
Human Intestinal Parasites

[orbsycli]

Whats que sera sera? Sounds like a song by Os Mutantes.

What is an effective way to eliminate parasites inside of us?
(Other than a healthy dieta, exercise, and fasting approximately 2 times a year?)

[mynah]

Spanish for "What will be, will be". Also the title of a hit song from way back - by Doris Day, I think.

After reading as much as I could about parasites, I've come to the conclusion that if they don't bother you, don't bother them. If they do become troublesome, there are a number of antihelminthics available, but accurate diagnosis of the infection is important.

[Michaelangelica]

Here is some more to worry about

Bilharzia

Robyn Williams: In villages around Uganda and other places in Africa, small creatures infect thousands to make their lives a misery. Dr Russell Stothard is at the Natural History Museum at London, and we're looking at the effects of Bilharzia.

Russell Stothard: Here we have a child who's being bathed in a bucket, and this child is very young, he's perhaps a year-and-a half old, but the parasite doesn't differentiate people by age. So if you're exposed to water infected or infested with the parasite then the parasite will be able to penetrate the skin, and if it's a baby or an adult child or an adolescent, it doesn't make any difference.

Robyn Williams: And this is the creature, is it? Ugh!

Russell Stothard: Yes, these white objects, about the size of the grain of rice, and these are the things which actually live inside your bloodstream around your bladder or your bowel. There's quite a lot of them here, perhaps a couple of hundred, so typically a child might have maybe 50 to 100. But you never actually see these worms because they're trapped away inside the blood vessels. What you do see is the eggs that they produce. So, for example, if you diagnose a child with disease you'd be looking for eggs of this parasite in the child's urine or the stool. It's the eggs in fact that cause the disease because they get trapped in tissues.

Robyn Williams: And the tissues then swell, do they?

Russell Stothard: Quite so. One of the classic signs of Bilharzia is children who have got a very distended or rounded abdomen or stomach.
I'll show you an image here actually which illustrates the point.
This is a photograph of a child, again, I took in Uganda, but this might be a consequence of this particular child who is about nine years old, he might have been infected when he was very much younger, perhaps, as we saw in the other image, the child being bathed in the bucket, but we see the child here having a very distended abdomen.
That's because the spleen and the liver and often the bowel have become congested with the parasite eggs, and as a consequence the whole organ swells.

Transcript
Science Show - 1December2007 - Bilharzia disease
Listen (for next 3 weeks)
Science Show