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 twip@twiv.tv

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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 twip@twiv.tv

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 twip@twiv.tv

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 twip@twiv.tv

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson reveal how malaria parasites avoid lysis by complement in the mosquito.

Links for this episode:

• Malaria parasites co-opt factor H (Cell Host Microbe)
• Complement system (Wikipedia)
• Letters read on TWiP 50

Contact

Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier

Vincent and Dickson discuss innate immune sensing of Toxoplasma gondii in mice, and heme metabolism in protozoan parasites.

Links for this episode:

• Sensing Toxoplasma in mice (Cell Host Microbe)
• Make it, take it, or leave it (PLoS Path)
• Heme (Wikipedia)
• Letters read on TWiP 49

Contact

Send your questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twip@twiv.tv