Sunday, February 12, 2006

New overlords - mind-controlling parasites!

Yes, it's true, according to this story. Once again I found it on /. The parasite "Toxoplasma gondii," which lives in the guts of cats, has been shown to affect behavior in rats.

Specifically, the parasite alter's the rat's instincts to avoid cat urine, and makes the rat actually *seek out* cat urine. As the parasite's eggs are often passed through the urine, the rat picks up the parasite eggs, the cat eats the rat, and the parasite makes it back into the cat's gut.

According to the article, there's a link between this parasite in humans and schizophrenia; antipsychotic drugs stop the growth of this bacteria.

Of course, humans are not as instinct-driven as rats... but I am feeling the urge to welcome our new overlords... welcome...

1 comment:

Michael K. Althouse said...

Just when I thought I had heard everything...