Slavery and the Spread of Disease

Fig.1. Scanning electron micrograph of a pair of Schistosoma mansoni. 
(Credit: Davies Laboratory Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD)

The transatlantic slave trade, which brought millions of Africans to the New World, connected four continents in a massive operation that lasted from the 16th to the 19th centuries. A recent study published in the journal Science Reports revealed that slave traders during these centuries contributed not only to an ongoing and tragic business in human lives, but also helped spread a parasitic disease around the world.

The parasitic fluke Schistosoma mansoni is one of several species that causes schistosomiasis (bilharzia), a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) found in almost 240 million people worldwide. This debilitating disease originated in East Africa and currently contributes to 20,000 to 200,000 deaths per year.

In the News: PNAS Editorial Released

Fig.1. Ebola response worker in full personal protective equipment
 (Credit: UNMEER via Flickr, 2014) 

An editorial based on SciColl’s 2014 workshop on emerging infectious diseases has just been released in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. From the first case to a worldwide eradication effort, scientific collections are necessary for disease research and response. This week, public health officials join in the fight against mysterious diseases and call for increased communication and collaboration.

C. Miguel Pinto, the Disease Detective

Fig.1. Red Queen lecturing Alice (Credit: John Tenniel, 1871)

“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place,”

- Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass

In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, Alice once again finds herself in a fantastical world. A chess piece called the Red Queen describes the rules of the Looking-Glass land, claiming that no matter how far Alice runs, the girl will stay in the same place. Evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen adopted this story in 1973 to illustrate the concept of an evolutionary arms race in which species must constantly evolve to remain extant. In symbiotic relationships, like that of parasites and hosts, an adaptation in one will affect the other. Therefore these organisms continually evolve, or “run,” to counter pressures posed by the opposite in order to survive.

This type of relationship fascinates C. Miguel Pinto, a George E. Burch and Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). He explores the evolutionary underpinnings of mammals and the parasites they hold. In particular, Pinto studies Trypanosoma parasites in bats.

In the News: The Creepy and the Curious

Fig.1. Dermestid beetles on a skull (Credit: Josh More via Flickr, 2014)

From parasite collections to ship graveyards, creepy and curious science is featured in this week's news. Read to learn about the importance of flesh-eating beetles to natural history museums, the sheer diversity of spider species, worms that look like vermicelli, and more:

Predicting Parasites

Fig.1. Estuarine clam Potamocorbula amurensis with oval-shaped pits induced by trematode worms (Credit: John Warren Huntley, 2015)

Last week, former President Jimmy Carter announced that the end was in sight for eradicating the waterborne Guinea worm disease. This parasitic affliction could be the second disease in human history to be eradicated. Unfortunately, just as the Guinea worm is declining, other parasitic diseases are on the rise. One researcher examined fossils from thousands of years ago to understand how parasites might change in the 21st century.