'off Switch' Discovery Could Help Clear Our Brains of a Common Parasite
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii#Behavioral_d...
was thinking of getting a cat but maybe not anymore...
Please note that I’m on purpose phrasing this to be a bit contrarian. Not trying to rattle any cages (no pun intended), just found myself initially agreeing with you and then not being sure anymore.
Growing up my cat would get antsy and stressed if she hadn’t gone outside in a day. I can see how people can mistake this for needing space, but it wasn’t relaxing for her. She had to go out to remark her territory, and seek out any stray cats encroaching on her space. Noticeably very stressful for her! In the end when she couldn’t retainer her territory anymore, she went in fast decline.
https://usop.substack.com/
I have some questions about the goals…
Damn clickbait… it took title, 5 paragraphs, and an ad break before they even mentioned what the parasite is.
> Gaji and his team might have found a lead, though: in a new study, they have shown that switching off just a single protein inside the microscopic parasite can kill it.
> The protein, TgAP2X-7, appears to be essential to the parasite's ability to invade a host, form plaques, and self-replicate. To prove this, the team genetically modified some parasites so that their TgAP2X-7 proteins function normally unless auxin (a plant hormone that regulates growth) is added, in which case the proteins would quickly degrade.
So it could be helpful research for something, but there are a lot of proteins within parasites that are necessary for growth and survival. Turning any number of proteins off could end the parasite's ability to do something, but that's not helpful unless you also have a mechanism to induce that change without harming the host.