Cat parasite rules our lives
posted by Cory Doctorow at 06:52:45 PM
Vann sez, "As a follow-up to Cory's entry in January of last year on
how toxoplasmosis may alter people's moods
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/22/moodaltering_cat_par.html
(women become more friendly; men become more paranoid), recent
studies suggest that infection by the parasite may also cause
people to become more prone to feeling guilty, develop
schizophenia, have auto accidents, or be born male."
U.S. Geological Survey biologist Kevin Lafferty has linked
high rates of toxoplasmosis infection in 39 countries with
elevated incidences of neuroticism, suggesting the mind-altering
organism may be affecting the cultures of nations.
Stranger still, parasitologist Jaroslav Flegr of Charles
University in Prague thinks T. gondii could also be skewing our
sex ratios. When he looked at the clinical records of more than
1,800 babies born from 1996 to 2004, he noted a distinct trend:
The normal sex ratio is 104 boys born for every 100 girls, but in
women with high levels of antibodies against the parasite, the
ratio was 260 boys for every 100 girls. Exactly how the parasite
might be tipping the odds in favor of males isn't understood, but
Flegr points out that it is known to suppress the immune system
of its hosts, and because the maternal immune system sometimes
attacks male fetuses in very early pregnancy, the parasite's
ability to inhibit the immune response might protect future boys
as well as itself.
Link
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/toxoplasma-gondii-culture-sex-ratio
See also:
Increase in guilt proneness
http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2006/09/research3.html
Risk of traffic accidents
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/2/11
Sex ratio (registration required) (Thanks, Vann!)
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/1012/1
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