Being Human: Life Lessons from the frontiers of Science is a series of lectures by; Not Salman Khan but by Robert Sapolsky!
You see ‘Being Human’ and if your brain is still stuck in the 1990s teenage mode then you may think Sallu Khan! Or it may be Toxoplasma Gondii THINKING!
In one series of lecture, Robert talks about parasites like Toxoplasma Gondii! This blog is not about Toxoplasma though!!
It is about other equally interesting PARASITES! Now just like Humans even Parasites have to live and propagate!
Even the simplest virus to the HUMANs who are parasitic! Remember that once a species is Parasitic then it will think only about its survival and nothing else! Whatever be the cause! Even if it has to damage or destroy the HOST, a PARASITE will not hesitate!
Think about the Rabies virus! It has a limited window to spread once it is in the circulation! So the affected animal is made to secrete more saliva and be ready to INJECT! The brain chemistry is changed to permanent aggression so that it is always ready to bite and spread! How did a microscopic virus achieve that!?
Then there is a parasite that moves between a species of fish and a species of waterbird as part of its life cycle! But when it is in the fish, it disturbs the functioning of the gills so that the fish has to swim closer to the surface to get
more oxygen and is, therefore, more readily eaten by the waterbird,
which eventually excretes the parasite! The parasite then falls back
into the water and is eaten by another fish, and the cycle continues!
One type of barnacle parasitizes a sand crab by injecting estrogenic (female) hormones. When injected into a male crab, the male starts having female-typical crab behavior, including digging a nest in the sand to lay its eggs. Because the male crab is not going to be laying any eggs, the barnacle can do so at that point!
So what would happen when the barnacle interacts with female crabs, it does the same thing, but first it castrates the female, destroying her ovaries, which is called parasitic castration! The parasite here not only makes sure its progeny survives but also DESTROYS the HOST progeny!
Finally (not by a long shot! but as far as this blog is concerned this is the last example!)
Why does the pinworm itch!
The eggs are laid on the fur of a rodent and it is very itchy! The rodent gnaws and itches and inadvertently swallows the eggs! The gut of the rodent is the best place for the eggs to reproduce!
Which is why you must not scratch every itch! If you do, then make sure to wash your hands!
Then again if it’s an itch to see a nice movie then you can watch a movie made by K. S. Ravikumar!
Shubh ratri…
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