Author: Carl Zimmer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 074320011X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites control the minds of their hosts, sending them to their destruction. IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites are masters of chemical warfare and camouflage, able to cloak themselves with their hosts' own molecules. IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites steer the course of evolution, where the majority of species are parasites. WELCOME TO EARTH. For centuries, parasites have lived in nightmares, horror stories, and in the darkest shadows of science. Yet these creatures are among the world's most successful and sophisticated organisms. In Parasite Rex, Carl Zimmer deftly balances the scientific and the disgusting as he takes readers on a fantastic voyage. Traveling from the steamy jungles of Costa Rica to the fetid parasite haven of southern Sudan, Zimmer graphically brings to life how parasites can change DNA, rewire the brain, make men more distrustful and women more outgoing, and turn hosts into the living dead. This thorough, gracefully written book brings parasites out into the open and uncovers what they can teach us about the most fundamental survival tactics in the universe.
Author: Timothy M. Goater
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521190282
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 515
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Book Description
Synthesizes the latest developments in the ecology and evolution of animal parasites for a new generation of parasitologists.
Author: Rosemary Drisdelle
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520259386
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276
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Book Description
The evolution and life history of parasites, their role in shaping human history, as well as future threats posed by them.
Author: Dickson D. Despommier
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231535260
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 241
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Book Description
Dickson D. Despommier's vivid, visceral account of the biology, behavior, and history of parasites follows the interplay between these fascinating life forms and human society over thousands of years. Despommier focuses on long-term host-parasite associations, which have evolved to avoid or even subvert the human immune system. Some parasites do great damage to their hosts, while others have signed a kind of "peace treaty" in exchange for their long lives within them. Many parasites also practice clever survival strategies that medical scientists hope to mimic as they search for treatments for Crohn's disease, food allergies, type 1 diabetes, organ transplantation, and other medical challenges. Despommier concentrates on particularly remarkable and often highly pathogenic organisms, describing their lifecycles and the mechanisms they use to avoid elimination. He details their attack and survival plans and the nature of the illnesses they cause in general terms, enabling readers of all backgrounds to steal a glimpse into the secret work of such effective invaders. He also points to the cultural contexts in which these parasites thrive and reviews the current treatments available to defeat them. Encouraging scientists to continue to study these organisms even if their threat is largely contained, Despommier shows how closer dissection of the substances parasites produce to alter our response to them could help unravel some of our most complex medical conundrums.
Author: Kathleen McAuliffe
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0544193229
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 299
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Book Description
“Engrossing … [An] expedition through the hidden and sometimes horrifying microbial domain.” —Wall Street Journal “Fascinating—and full of the kind of factoids you can't wait to share.” —Scientific American Parasites can live only inside another animal and, as Kathleen McAuliffe reveals, these tiny organisms have many evolutionary motives for manipulating the behavior of their hosts. With astonishing precision, parasites can coax rats to approach cats, spiders to transform the patterns of their webs, and fish to draw the attention of birds that then swoop down to feast on them. We humans are hardly immune to their influence. Organisms we pick up from our own pets are strongly suspected of changing our personality traits and contributing to recklessness and impulsivity—even suicide. Germs that cause colds and the flu may alter our behavior even before symptoms become apparent. Parasites influence our species on the cultural level, too. Drawing on a huge body of research, McAuliffe argues that our dread of contamination is an evolved defense against parasites. The horror and revulsion we are programmed to feel when we come in contact with people who appear diseased or dirty helped pave the way for civilization, but may also be the basis for major divisions in societies that persist to this day. This Is Your Brain on Parasites is both a journey into cutting-edge science and a revelatory examination of what it means to be human. “If you’ve ever doubted the power of microbes to shape society and offer us a grander view of life, read on and find yourself duly impressed.” —Heather Havrilesky, Bookforum
Author: Robert S Desowitz
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393304268
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 228
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Book Description
A medical ecologist examines the threat posed by disease-carrying parasites and insects and identifies the conditions--miracle drugs, destruction of natural controls--that have encouraged them to flourish.
Author: Skye Weintraub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9781885670885
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 212
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Book Description
Parasites. The word typically conjures images of impoverished living conditions, foreign travel or questionable eating establishments. But the presence of parasites is much more common than most people think. Contaminated water supplies, poor hygiene, and ignorance, coupled with the presence of various commonly found parasites puts infection rates among North Americans as high as 85 percent, according to some experts. In The Parasite Menace, Dr. Skye Weintraub educates the reader about parasites: how to prevent infection, detect their presence, and rid ourselves of them by through diet and nutrition, herbal and supplemental therapies, and other natural practices. Dr. Weintraub also examines proper hygiene practices, water filters, proper food handling, immune system fortification, and other ways to decrease our risk of being infected with parasites.
Author: Albert O. Bush
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521664479
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 580
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Book Description
Explains parasite biology as a branch of ecology - essential reading for zoology and ecology students.
Author: Carl Zimmer
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307377563
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
A Best Book of the YearSeed Magazine • Granta Magazine • The Plain-DealerIn this fascinating and utterly engaging book, Carl Zimmer traces E. coli's pivotal role in the history of biology, from the discovery of DNA to the latest advances in biotechnology. He reveals the many surprising and alarming parallels between E. coli's life and our own. And he describes how E. coli changes in real time, revealing billions of years of history encoded within its genome. E. coli is also the most engineered species on Earth, and as scientists retool this microbe to produce life-saving drugs and clean fuel, they are discovering just how far the definition of life can be stretched.
Author: Morris Gleitzman
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
ISBN: 1742284906
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 114
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Book Description
Who likes stomach acid and sludge farming and wants to find a friend? Wilton the worm. Who likes running away and hiding and wants to save the world? Algy the microbe. What's huge and scary and the first thing they see outside? Underpants. Wilton has a bad feeling in his tummy. The one he lives in. Can one worm discover new worlds and save his friends from destruction? Wilton is about to find out. Discover the magical world of the intestine and embark on an epic journey with Wilton and Algy as they learn the power of friendship, bravery, and self-discovery on their quest to save their world and each other. ------------------ PRAISE FOR MORRIS GLEITZMAN ‘Readers can't get enough of him.’ The Independent ‘A brilliantly funny writer’ Sunday Telegraph ‘A virtuoso demonstration of how you can make comedy out of the most unlikely subject’ Sunday Times ‘He is one of the finest examples of a writer who can make humour stem from the things that really matter in life.’ The Guardian
