This Week In Parasitism

Vincent and Dick trace the life cycle of Trichinella spiralis in an infected host. Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Trichinella life cycle (jpg) Newborn larva entering muscle cell (jpg) Adult T. spiralis in columnar epithelial cell (jpg) Adult female T. spiralis (jpg) Infective first stage T. spiralis larva in Nurse cell in muscle tissue (jpg) Adult female T. spiralis with fully formed larvae in uterus (jpg) Adult male T. spiralis with claspers on tail (jpg) Clinical correlations in trichinosis (jpg) Letters read on TWiP #4 Weekly Science Picks Dickson David Scharf's pictures of microbial lifeVincent The Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau

Vincent and Dick distinguish among intracellular and extracellular parasites, then discuss the history and general characteristics of Trichinella spiralis. Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: The History of Trichinella at Trichinella.org Parasite genome databases at the European Bioinformatics Institute List of parasite genome projects Weekly Science Picks Dickson The Doctor and the Devils

Vincent and Dick classify parasites according to whether or not they are transmitted by a vector, then consider the implications of long-lived parasites. Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dick provide an overview of parasites and parasitism. Host links: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Weekly Science Picks Dick The Black Cloud by Fred HoyleVincent Parasitic Diseases by Despommier et al.