April 4, 2007
Mouse Brain Hacking
While I don't write a whole lot about biological phenomena, I ran across this article which may, in fact, be one of the strangest things that I have ever read.
A mere parasite controls the fate of rats and mice by hijacking the part of the brain that makes the rodents naturally fear cats, a new study shows.
Rats and mice normally flee if they smell cat urine, but not if they're infected by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite can only complete its life cycle if its rodent host is eaten by a cat, so it "brainwashes" the creature into apparently liking the scent.
I almost cannot imagine the sequence of random variation that allows the parasite to so exquisitely tune its action on the rodents. Let alone why the parasite needs the mouse to be eaten by a mouse.
Posted by elkaim at April 4, 2007 9:42 PM