Vincent and Dickson welcome new TWiP host Daniel to discuss the association of a new Mycoplasma with Trichomoniasis, and to introduce a new feature to the show, a case study. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and Daniel Griffin Links for this episode: Association of Mycoplasma with trichomoniasis (PLoS One) Biggest DNA genomes (Wikipedia) Send your case study solutions to [email protected] Letters read on TWiP 80 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv...
Jan 08, 2015•1 hr 58 min
Vincent and Dickson discuss the spread of P. knowlesi in Malaysia, and how Leishmania parasites protect the sandfly gut from bacterial infection. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Spread of P. knowlesi in Malaysia (NY Times) Climate change in Europe and vector transmitted disease (Infez Med) Colonisation resistance in the sandfly gut (Parasites & Vectors) Car Talk co-host dies Early Career Scientists Symposium Image credit: Anne Marie Letters read on TW...
Nov 22, 2014•1 hr 31 min
Vincent and Dickson discuss how malaria parasites induce odors in their rodent hosts that attract mosquitoes. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Visceral Leishmaniasis , South Sudan (ProMedMail) Malaria-induced changes in host odors (PNAS) Image credit Letters read on TWiP 77 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by email...
Oct 29, 2014•1 hr 11 min
Vincent and Dickson discuss the exchange of messenger RNAs between a parasitic plant and its hosts. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Exchange of mRNAs between parasite and plant (Science) White leaf rust (Wikipedia) Cuscuta (Wikipedia) Fungal haustoria (PNAS) Image credit Letters read on TWiP 77 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by email...
Sep 19, 2014•1 hr 6 min
Vincent and Dickson discuss how infection of mice with helminths induces cytokines that reactivate a latent gamma-herpesvirus. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Helminths reactivate herpesvirus (Science) How helminths go viral (Science) Herpesvirus latency protects from bacterial infection (Nature) Image credit Letters read on TWiP 76 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , ...
Sep 02, 2014•1 hr 24 min
Bobbi Pritt joins Vincent and Dickson to talk about directing a clinical parasitology laboratory and her weekly case reports at Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Guest: Bobbi Pritt Links for this episode: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites Letters read on TWiP 75 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by email...
Jul 21, 2014•1 hr 9 min
Vincent and Dickson review a novel malaria vaccine candidate comprising a parasite protein involved in egress from red blood cells. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Egress protein a malaria vaccine candidate (Science) Human proteins (Wikipedia) Plasmodium genomics resource Image: P. falciparum ring forms and gametocytes in blood Letters read on TWiP 74 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP ...
Jul 04, 2014•1 hr 26 min
Vincent and Dickson discuss how nibbling of human cells by Entamoeba histolytica , a process called amoebic trogocytosis, contributes to cell killing and tissue invasion. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Trogocytosis by E. histolytica (Nature) Trogocytosis Entamoeba histolytica (TWiP 17) Entamoeba histolytica life cycle (jpg) Image: E. histolytica nibbling a green cell ( credit ) Letters read on TWiP 73 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp...
Jun 13, 2014•1 hr 7 min
Vincent and Dickson discuss five ways that helminths manipulate host tissues to survive. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Links for this episode: Wormholes in host defense (PLoS Path) Lung coin lesion (Wikipedia) Granuloma (Wikipedia) Jar that Dickson is holding (jpg) Letters read on TWiP 72 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by email...
May 24, 2014•1 hr 41 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson review the finding that urocanic acid in the skin is a chemoattractant for the parasitic nematode Strongyloides stercoralis . Download TWiP #71 (60 MB .mp3, 84 minutes). Links for this episode: Strongyloides stercoralis (TWiP #71) Urocanic acid is a S. stercoralis chemoattractant (PNAS) Chemical trails of parasites (PNAS) Urocanic acid (Wikipedia) Candiru (Wikipedia) Your Inner Fish (PBS) Letters read on TWiP 71 Contact Send yo...
May 10, 2014•1 hr 24 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson discuss the finding of Gnathostoma nematodes in Asian swamp eels from US live markets and wild populations. Links for this episode: Guinea worm eradication at risk (Science) Gnathostomiasis (CDC) Asian swamp eel Gnathostoma in live swamp eels (EID) Interview with Rebecca Cole (YouTube) Letters read on TWiP 70 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTune...
Apr 12, 2014•1 hr 23 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson discuss an increase in the altitude of malaria distribution in warmer years in the highlands of Colombia and Ethiopia. Links for this episode: Altitudinal changes in malaria incidence (Science) El Niño (Wikipedia) NOAA El Niño page Image credit: Science Letters read on TWiP 69 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by email...
Mar 29, 2014•1 hr 14 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello Dickson Despommier , and Sagi Shapira Vincent, Dickson, and Sagi discuss evidence that the pathogen Trypanosoma brucei undergoes meiosis and sexual reproduction. Links for this episode: Meiosis and haploid gametes in T. brucei (Curr Biol) Meiosis (Wikipedia) Letters read on TWiP 68 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by email...
Mar 08, 2014•1 hr 23 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson explain the genetic and molecular basis of drug resistance in Schistosoma mansonii . Links for this episode: Basis of resistance to oxamniquine (Science) Oxamniquine (Wikipedia) Letters read on TWiP 67 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by email...
Feb 22, 2014•1 hr 16 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson discuss reversible inhibitors of cruzipain as new drugs for treating Chagas disease. Links for this episode: Reversible cysteine protease inhibitors for Chagas (AAC) New drug candidates for Chagas (ScienceDaily) Pancake ice (YouTube) Letters read on TWiP 66 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by email...
Feb 08, 2014•1 hr 43 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson consider the effects of climate change on parasitic diseases. Links for this episode: Climate change and infectious diseases (Science) The more parasites the better ? (Science) Host and parasite control disease risk (PNAS) Parasites dominate food web links (PNAS) The World Without Us by Alan Weisman Image credit: PLoS One Letters read on TWiP 65 Dickson's Pick Neglected by Shelly Xie (YouTube) Contact Send your questions and co...
Jan 13, 2014•1 hr 23 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson review three novel approaches to antimalarial chemotherapy. Links for this episode: Targeting PI(4)K to eliminate malaria (Nature) Antimicrobial peptides to target sporogonic stages of malaria (PLoS Path) Small molecule blocks malaria invasion of mosquito (PLoS Path) Photo credit Letters read on TWiP 64 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by...
Dec 19, 2013•1 hr 37 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson discuss evidence that the malaria parasite originated in gorillas. Links for this episode: Great apes and zoonoses (Science) Source of human malaria (PNAS) Origin of human malaria parasite in gorillas (Nature) Ape Plasmodium in Cameroon not infecting humans (PNAS) No Plasmodium in greater spot-nosed monkey (Int J Parasit) TWiP 13: Toxoplasmosis Image credit Letters read on TWiP 62 Contact Send your questions and comments (email...
Nov 12, 2013•1 hr 37 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson discuss the high diversity of malaria parasites in West African bats, and a vaccine against hookworm. Links for this episode: High diversity of West African bat malaria parasites (PNAS) Human hookworm vaccine (Vaccine) Gongylonema infection in human (Am J Trop Med Hyg) Letters read on TWiP 62 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS fe...
Nov 01, 2013•1 hr 36 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson review examples of paleoparasitology, the detection of parasites in archaeological material. Links for this episode: T. rex had Trichomonas (PLoS One) King Richard III had worms (CNN) Discovery of toilets in Japan (Mem Inst Os Cruz) Paleoparasitology in the Old World (Mem Inst Os Cruz) Soils from Seoul (J Arachael Sci) Ancient parasite infections in Old World (pdf) Ascaris in coprolites (Mem Inst Os Cruz) Human intestinal paras...
Oct 15, 2013•1 hr 15 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson discuss how infection with Toxoplasma gondii causes mice to lose their aversion to cat urine, even after the parasites have been cleared. Links for this episode: T. gondii in mice causes loss of aversion to cat urine (PLoS One) Cyclosporiasis update (CDC) Letters read on TWiP 60 Listener Pick Blaine - The Worm Within Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe (free) Subscribe to TWiP ...
Sep 25, 2013•1 hr 10 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson update the multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis, discuss the avian malaria parasite P. lophurae , and review protection against malaria by intravenous immunization with a nonreplicating sporozoite vaccine. Links for this episode: Cyclosporiasis outbreak in US (CDC) Extraordinary history of REV (PLoS Biology) Avian malaria (Ann NY Acad Sci) P. lophurae (J Parasitol) TWiP infects TWiV (TWiV 248) Intravenous malaria vaccine (Scie...
Sep 09, 2013•1 hr 24 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Guest: Cali Despommier Vincent and Dickson update the multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis, and Dickson reads a chapter from his new book. Links for this episode: Dickson and Cali (jpg) Cyclosporiasis keeps spreading (ProMedMail) Cyclosporiasis is not a virus! (Gawker) Cyclosporiasis is not a virus! (Yahoo) The Global Dispatch People, Parasites, and Plowshares by Dickson Despommier Letters read on TWiP 58 Contact Send your questions and comments ...
Aug 09, 2013•1 hr 34 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson review a multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis caused by the single-celled coccidian parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis . The day after recording this episode, ProMedMail reported that the outbreak of cyclosporiasis had spread to Texas. Links for this episode: Cyclosporiasis (CDC) Cyclospora life cycle (CDC) Cyclosporiasis (Wikipedia) Cyclosporiasis outbreak, US ( one , two , three ) (ProMedMail) Cyclosporiasis outbreak moves to ...
Jul 20, 2013•1 hr 17 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson discuss Myxobolus cerebralis , the parasite that causes whirling disease of salmonids. Links for this episode: Myxobolus cerebralis (Wikipedia) Fish migration (Wikipedia) Trout with whirling disease (YouTube) Letters read on TWiP 55 Listener Pick Amanda - Pandemic: On the Brink Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe (free) Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by...
Jul 03, 2013•1 hr 33 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson reveal how invasive harlequin ladybirds use biological weapons against their competitors. Links for this episode: Invasive Harlequin Ladybirds' biological weapon (Science) Immunity an invasive success (Science) Invading ladybugs carry bioweapons (C&EN) Ladybird Ladybird (Wikipedia) G. Evelyn Hutchinson (Wikipedia) Letters read on TWiP 55 Dickson's Pick An Inordinate Fondess for Beetles by Arthur V. Evans, Charles L. Bellamy...
Jun 15, 2013•1 hr 14 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson consider a case history of a young man with Blastocystis hominis - is it causing his disease? Links for this episode: Blastocystis (Wikipedia) Blastocystis review (Trends Parasitol) Letters read on TWiP 54 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected] Subscribe (free) Subscribe to TWiP (free) in iTunes , by the RSS feed or by email...
May 23, 2013•1 hr 26 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson discuss the finding that immunity to a sandfly salivary protein protects against fatal visceral leishmaniasis in hamsters. Links for this episode: Immunity to a salivary protein protects against leishmaniasis (PNAS) Image of blood-fed Lutzomyia longipalpis (right) credit Short history of Leishmania vaccines Leishmania on TWiP #14 Letters read on TWiP 53 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]...
Apr 20, 2013•1 hr 11 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Vincent and Dickson review the life cycle and pathogenesis of the giant kidney worm, Dioctophyme renale . Links for this episode: Dioctophymiasis (CDC) Dioctophyme renale (Wikipedia) Fatal bilateral dioctophymiasis (J Parasitol) Clinical Parasitology by Paul C. Beaver D. renale in a dog (Vet. Parasitol.) Surgical removal of D. renale (YouTube) Letters read on TWiP 52 Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]...
Mar 16, 2013•1 hr 10 min
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier Guest: Anthony A. James Special guest Anthony A. James joins Vincent and Dickson to discuss how mosquitoes can be genetically modified to control infectious diseases. Links for this episode: Field cage studies of modified mosquitoes (PLoS NTD) Flightless mosquitoes (PNAS) When mutant mosquitoes attack (NY Times) Contact Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected]...
Mar 02, 2013•1 hr 12 min
