Comments on: Fatal Attraction: Sex, Death, Parasites, and Cats

By: Zombileştirebildiklerimizden misiniz? : Konağına Hükmeden Parazitler

Zombileştirebildiklerimizden misiniz? : Konağına Hükmeden Parazitler — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:26:23 +0000

[...] C. Fatal Attraction: Sex, Death, Parasites and Cats. The Loom. [...]

By: Viral Rain « Life « Science Today: Beyond the Headlines

Viral Rain « Life « Science Today: Beyond the Headlines — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:13:55 +0000

[...] victims. We wrote about ant-zombifying fungi a few months ago, and the parasite Toxoplasma was in the news a couple of weeks ago as scientists found that toxo-infected rats become sexually aroused by cat [...]

By: Bob C.

Bob C. — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:15:39 +0000

can the parasite be passed to kittens from the mother? my cats have always been strictly indoor kitties.

By: seb

seb — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:52:33 +0000

Hello,

Very interesting report on this incredible research!

There is one outstanding question that still bothers me. What would be the type of mechanisms that would allow the parasite to specifically attenuate the innate fear for cats? I find it quite to difficult to think of any biological process that would do this and at the same time spare the innate fear of other species, such as dogs for instance, or even spare the acquisition of learned fear.
Any thoughts or research on this?

Thanks!

By: Links from Yesterday (8/19/2011) « Projections of B

Links from Yesterday (8/19/2011) « Projections of B — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:36:13 +0000

[...] Fatal Attraction: Sex, Death, Parasites, and Cats – Recommended by Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer [...]

By: matt

matt — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:13:20 +0000

this is such a fascinating parasite. there’s an essay devoted to this in one of Sapolsky’s books, i believe (Monkeyluv, if i recall correctly). thanks for the post.

By: Ole Rogeberg

Ole Rogeberg — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 07:48:34 +0000

Are you aware of the book “Peeps” by Scott Westerfeld, which explicitly notes its debt to “Parasite Rex”? It`s a “young adult” book that reinterprets vampires as people infected with a parasite, with an evolutionary rationale for the fear of crucifixes etc. Every second chapter is a short essay on some weird parasite from your book, but he does “overdo” it – suggesting in the toxoplasmosis chapter, for instnace, that the parasite affects people in a way that makes them more likely to be “cat people” (less structured and more messy and laissez faire, if I remember correctly).

Fun read, though the evolutionary logic that I found most entertaining was unfortunately thrown out the window towards the end…

By: F. Wyman Morgan

F. Wyman Morgan — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 02:47:46 +0000

The very real mystery of Toxoplasma gondii’s effect on rats and people is tackled by fictional characters in a new book entitled, Purr, the novel, by F. Wyman Morgan. See an extensive preview at purrthenovel.com. Purchase from Amazon.com. An assistant professor, with a well-deserved reputation as a womanizer, undertakes a program to study Toxoplasma gondi and “solves” the riddle of how the microbe makes rats suicidal and women amorous

By: Twitter home page Aug 18 | Fadograph's Weblog

Twitter home page Aug 18 | Fadograph's Weblog — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:59:08 +0000

[...] that switches off fear & turns on sexual desire. Mr. Cronenberg, please check yr messages.. blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/08/1… 12 hours ago ariannahuffArianna Huffington Rick Perlstein: “How Democrats Win: [...]

By: Rhiannon

Rhiannon — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:31:12 +0000

This article reminds me of this comic from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal that was recently posted: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2331#comic