Those of you who have had my college biology class know that I have an interest in human parasitic diseases, especially ones that might alter human behavior. The Atlantic just published an article summarizing some of the new research surrounding Toxoplasma gondii, the protist parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. It is estimated that 50% of people in the world are infected with toxoplasmosis (rates in the USA are far lower, around 10-12%). The conventional wisdom has been that toxoplasmosis infections don't really cause harm to healthy people, but it seems that those conclusions may have been misguided. Toxoplasma infections are now strongly linked with some forms of mental illness such as schizophrenia, as well as to brain cancer.
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