Is there a disease that makes us love cats? - Jaap de Roode
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Today, about a third of the world’s population is infected with a strange disease called toxoplasmosis — and most of them never even know it. And while the parasite can multiply in practically any host, it can only reproduce sexually in the intestines of cats. Could this disease be the reason so many people love cats and keep them as pets? Jaap de Roode shares what we know about toxoplasmosis.
Toxoplasma is one example of a parasite that can manipulate the behavior of its host to reproduce and therefore increase its own survival. Another parasite that can manipulate host behavior is Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria. When mosquitoes are infected with Plasmodium, they bite more often and for longer than mosquitoes that are not infected. Provide a hypothesis for how this altered behavior helps the parasite.
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Jaap de Roode
- Script Editor Eleanor Nelsen
- Director Anton Bogaty
- Narrator Addison Anderson
