Current Interests

Many types of parasites have been shown to cause extreme deviations in the host’s normal behavior, even leading to the host’s suicide to complete their lifecycles. Bacteria that are usually first obtained during birth in humans has been shown to cause personality deviations and weight gain in lab mice. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is a fungi famous for creating zombie ants. Toxoplasmosis gondii is a coccidian intercellular protist that triggers intense attraction in rodents towards felines, overriding fear sensors. Species of nematode hairworms in crickets activate uncontrollable water-seeking behaviors that cause the host to drown themselves. A final example is Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea worm), which in humans causes an intense localized burning in the legs causing the host to seek out water to “cool” the inflamed area while the worm stealthily deposits its eggs into the water to continue its lifecycle.

While these examples of parasite manipulations are extreme, they are ecologically isolated. I would hypothesize that there are influential parasitic interactions at the most foundational level of our environment; the primary production of food webs.