Parasite deludes rats into liking cats.A protozoan protozoan (prō'təzō`ən), informal term for the unicellular heterotrophs of the kingdom Protista. Protozoans comprise a large, diverse assortment of microscopic or near-microscopic organisms that live as single cells or in simple that infects rats dims their wariness around cats and can even lead to what Oxford researchers call a fatal attraction Fatal Attraction is a 1987 thriller about a married man who has a weekend affair with a woman who refuses to allow it to end and who becomes obsessed with him. It stars Michael Douglas, Glenn Close and Anne Archer. It was directed by Adrian Lyne. . That's too bad "That's Too Bad" is the debut single by Tubeway Army, the band which provided the initial musical vehicle for Gary Numan. It was released in February 1978 by independent London record label Beggars Banquet. for the rat, but it works for the parasite, explains Manuel Berdoy in England. The protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii Tox·o·plas·ma gon·di·i n. A sporozoan species that is an intracellular parasite in a variety of vertebrates and is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis. , needs to jump from rat to feline to complete its life cycle. The rat's getting caught by a cat fits the parasite's agenda, Berdoy and his colleagues argue in the Aug. 7 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY Proceedings of the Royal Society is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society of London. Today, the Royal Society publishes two proceeding series:
The researchers monitored rats exposed to cat odors. Normal rats avoid such smells. Yet infected rats seemed to lose their wariness and sometimes even prefer cat fragrance. This rat personality change marks the clearest example yet of a parasite manipulating its victimized mammal, claims Berdoy. The parasite can infect many types of mammals but reproduces only in a few. In people, a latent infection can flair up and cause mental decline. Now, the researchers speculate that low-grade infections may result in more subtle effects, such as odd behavior and IQ dips. They estimate that the parasite infects 22 percent of UK residents and 88 percent of the French. |
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