This Week in Parasitism

The triple TWiP solve the case of the Peace Corp Veteran with Eosinophilia, and discuss the genome sequence of the hyper-prevalent parasitic eukaryote Blastocystis . Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Genome diversity of Blastocystis (PLoS Biol) Photo credit Letters read  on TWiP 140 This episode is brought to yo...

The TWiPwalas solve the case of the Woman with a Worm in Her Eye, and discuss the role of nitric oxide in the resistance of rats to  Schistosoma japonicum. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Nitric oxide blocks schistosome development (PNAS) Photo credit: Dave the Sheep Shearer Letters read  on TWiP 139 This epis...

The TWiPsters solve the case of the Child from DR with Poppy Seed Sized Things On His Head Hair Shafts, and reveal how the skin parasite landscape determines the infectiousness of  Leishmania. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello and  Daniel Griffin Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Tr (Cell Host Microbe) Letters read  on TWiP 138 This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is...

The TWiPtoids solve the case of the Man from India with a Neck Lump, and explore the role of a transmissible dysbiotic skin microbiome in inflammation during cutaneous leishmaniasis. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Transmissible dysbiotic skin microbiome in cutaneous leishmaniasis (Cell Host Microbe) Letters r...

The TWiP Titans solve the case of the Man from Queens with a Blister Burster, and explain the role of inflammatory monocytes during Leishmania infection of the skin. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Inflammatory monocytes and skin Leishmania (PLoS Path) Dracunculiasis ( TWiP 37 ) Photo: Daniel using a LifeStraw...

Dickson returns to the TWiP hosts to solve the case of the Woman from Colorado With Loose Stools, and explain how single-sex infection with female Schistosoma mansoni reduces hepatic fibrosis. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: ASM Grant Writing Online Course Single-sex Schistosoma infection (PLoS NTD) Asterix th...

Daniel and Vincent solve the case of the Haitian Girl Who Failed To Thrive, and visit two studies that address the question of whether infection with Toxoplasma gondii alters human behavior. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello  and  Daniel Griffin   Links for this episode: ASM Grant Writing Online Course Is Toxoplasma infection related to brain and behavior impairments ? (PLoS One) Toxoplasma infection and...

Daniel and Vincent solve the case of the Woman With Anal Area Discomfort, and discuss the multiple functions of a clathrin adapter protein in formation of rhoptry and microneme secretory organelles of Toxoplasma gondii . Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello  and  Daniel Griffin Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education SciComm Issue ( link ) TWiP 19: En...

The TWiP-tastic peeps solve the case of the Thai Man Coughing Up Blood, and reveal potential therapies for trypanosomiasis that are inhibitors of protein import into glycosomes. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Inhibitors of protein import into trypanosome glycosomes (Science) Hookworm ( TWiP #22 ) Photo by Ni...

Jonathan from the podcast Arthro-Pod joins the TWiPerati to solve the case of the Peruvian Woman With Inguinal Insect Bite, and discuss warm autoimmune hemolytic anemic that develops after babesiosis. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin Guest:   Jonathan Larson Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Jonathan Larson  ( Twitter , Google Plus ) Arthro-Po...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The  TWiPniks  solve the case of the Man With AIDS, and explore how secretion of extracellular vesicles influences the social motility of Trypanosoma brucei . Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: T. brucei exosomes and social motility (PLoS Path) Image credit Parasites Without Borders Letters read  on TWiP 130 Thi...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The  TWiP Masters  solve the case of the Australian Wildlife Carer, and review evidence that nodding syndrome may be caused by an autoimmune reaction to the parasitic worm that causes river blindness . Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Nodding syndrome an  autoimmune disease?  (Sci Transl Med) Nodding syndrome...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The  TWiPerati  solve the case of the Man Who Sat in Feces, and discuss a study on how Dickson's favorite parasite induces the formation of a collagen capsule. Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Induction of  collagen synthesis  by  Trichinella  (Vet Parasitol) Letters read  on TWiP 128 This episode is brought t...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The  TWiPsters  solve the case of the Peace Corps Volunteer with a Liver Lesion, and discuss the dependence of  Leishmania  survival on the gut microbiome of the sandfly. Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Leishmania  depends on  sandfly gut microbiome  (mBio) Kava  (Wikipedia) Letters read  on TWiP 127 This epi...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The  TWiP Trinity  solve the case of the Peace Corps volunteer with diarrhea, and reveal how immunizing against a virus ameliorates exacerbated leishmaniasis. Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Viral vaccine  prevents exacerbated leishmaniasis (PLoS NTD) For whom the trich tolls ( TWiP 47 ) A virus in a parasite...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The  TWiPonderers  solve the case of the Timber Worker with Severe Shaking Chills, and describe an experimental malaria vaccine comprising attenuated sporozoites produced by genetic engineering. Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Genetically engineered   P. falciparum  sporozoite vaccine (Sci Transl Med) Parasit...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The  prolific podcast-shedding Hosts  solve the case of the Global Health Intern with a snakelike lesion on her foot, and reveal the role of a single-stranded DNA binding protein in differentiation of trypanosomes. Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: RPA protein and  differentiation  of  T. cruzi  (PLoS NTD) Imag...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The TWiPanorama solve the case of the Dutch Woman with Wormy Objects in Her Stool, dissect a study on cytoadhesion of malaria infected red blood cells, and introduce Parasitology Superheroes. Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Myiasis  (Wikipedia) Cytoadhesion of  Plasmodium  in severe malaria (PLoS Path) Image...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The TWiPniks docs solve the case of the Female from Peru with E pistaxis , and discuss the effect of community deworming on immunosuppression. Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Community deworming and immune hyporesponsiveness (PNAS) Paul C. Beaver ( one ,  two ) Photo by Oscar Adam Oscarson Letters read  on TW...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The TWiPanosome docs solve the case of the Mali Man with Profuse Diarrhea, and review the presence of  Trypanosoma cruzi  in vectors, canids, and humans along the Texas-Mexico border. Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: T. cruzi  in vectors, canids, humans  at Mexican border  (PLoS NTD) Tetracapsuloides bryosalmo...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Dickson Despommier , and  Daniel Griffin The TWiP triumvirate solve the case of the Thai Woman with Facial Swelling, and explain how Th17 T cells protect against the intracellular parasite  Trypanosoma cruzi . Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Th17 cells protect  against  Trypanosoma cruzi  (PLoS Path) Plasticity  of helper CD4+ cells (Science) Image c...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello  and Daniel Griffin Vincent and Daniel solve the case of the Family with Eosinophilia, and discuss HIV-1 infection and genome integration in the blood fluke  Schistosoma mansoni . Become a  patron  of TWiP. Links for this episode: Family cluster of  eosinophilia  (Clin Inf Dis) Dientamoeba fragilis  (Wikipedia) Parasites without borders HIV integrates  into  Schistosoma...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and Daniel Griffin The TWiPinella solve the case of the Woman from Guinea, and describe the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to identify essential apicomplexan genes. Links for this episode: Malarias in  Guinea  (CDC) Genome-wide  CRISPR screen  in  Toxoplasma  (Cell) Plasmodium  parasitemia associated with  increased Ebola survival  (Clin Inf Dis) Image credit...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and Daniel Griffin The parasite prophets solve the case of the Thai Man with Abdominal Distention, and discuss the finding that m etastatic leishmaniasis dependent on a virus can be prevented by blocking IL-17A . Links for this episode: TWiP 27: Trematodes Leishmaniavirus and IL-17A dependent  leishmaniasis (PLoS Path) Image credit Letters read  o...

Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Dickson Despommier , and Daniel Griffin The TWiPtoids solve the case of the Thai Fisherman with Chronic Diarrhea, and reveal a potential new drug for treatment of leishmaniasis, Chagas diseases, and sleeping sickness. Links for this episode: Capillaria philippensis  (Wikipedia) Proteasome inhibitor  for three parasitic diseases (Nature) Image credit Letters read  on T...