Parasitology – serie

A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease. We owe our good health to a humble parasite - a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the tapeworm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system - even secretes designer drugs. It's been successful beyond the scientists' wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them. But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives . . . and will do anything to get them.

The final book in Mira Grant's terrifying Parasitology trilogy. The outbreak has spread, tearing apart the foundations of society, as implanted tapeworms have turned their human hosts into a seemingly mindless mob. Sal and her family are trapped between bad and worse, and must find a way to compromise between the two sides of their nature before the battle becomes large enough to destroy humanity, and everything that humanity has built...including the chimera. The broken doors are closing. Can Sal make it home? Parasitology Parasite Symbiont Chimera For more from Mira Grant, check out: Newsflesh Feed Deadline Blackout Newsflesh Short Fiction Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box Countdown San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell Please Do Not Taunt the Octopus

THE ENEMY IS INSIDE US. The SymboGen-designed parasites were created to relieve humanity of disease and sickness. But the implants in the majority of the world's population began attacking their hosts, turning them into a ravenous horde. Now those who do not appear to be afflicted are being gathered for quarantine as panic spreads, but Sal and her companions must discover how the parasites are taking over their hosts, what their eventual goal is and how they can be stopped.

Humans and animals are frequently infected with at least one species of parasite and most also harbour other parasites or infectious agents. The interactions between these agents are often subtle and ignored by parasitologists, ecologists and immunologists. This volume explores these interactions in detail, with particular emphasis on their immunological and ecological aspects. There are also contributions on parasitic infections and AIDS and the problems of treating patients with multiple infections. This volume will be of interest to parasitologists, clinicians, veterinarians, immunologists, ecologists and anyone else dealing with parasitic, viral or bacterial infections in the laboratory or in the field.

Parasites experience two environments; one reflecting external conditions, the other created by the living host. The constraints imposed by these environments provide an avenue into the rich diversity of parasitology. The subjects of this volume are relevant to evolution, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology and phylogenetic analysis. Papers review familiar and unfamiliar extreme physical conditions from low temperatures and desiccation to the powerful water currents faced by some fish parasites. The environment created by the host and parasite adaptation to host immunity is covered in several papers, including immune evasion, host-switching and the effect of parasites on the evolution of immunity.

The sea is host to most of the Earth's biodiversity. However, in the case of parasites and their hosts, little is known of the interactions among the organisms. This important volume covers many aspects of these interactions, including the co-evolution and biogeography of different marine systems, and their applied impact on commercially important host species. Topics discussed include species interactions in such well-studied systems as larval trematodes in gastropods and ectoparasites on fish. The effects of parasites in ecosystems extend to commercial, economic concerns, particularly in aquaculture. The volume presents an easy-to-read account of recent advances in this important topic.

The papers in this volume draw attention to both new and recent information on the mechanisms employed by infectious pathogens to underpin their survival in the immunocompetent host and to facilitate their transmission between hosts.

The diagnosis of infectious agents in humans and animals and the detection of pathogens in food and water are not without problems and are often difficult to validate. The methods currently in use range from rather simple, easily managed and routine techniques to the extremely complex cutting edge technologies of modern molecular biology and high-throughput miniaturised methods. There is a clear need for rapid, accurate and unambiguous results. This volume considers the principles behind such diverse methods and describes in some detail how diagnostic and detection methods are employed. The first part deals with the current position and considers prions, viruses, protozoa, and helminth parasites both in host organisms and in food, drinking water and the environment. The second part focuses on future trends in diagnosis by examining emerging pathogens, the risk assessment of water-borne pathogens and the development of exciting new micromethods.