Why losing parasites could have devastating effects on our ecosystem

On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti

WBUR

News, On Point, Npr, Talk Show, Daily

4.3 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Parasites. Cause of human disease. Big on the yuck-factor. It's easy to think of them as doing no good -- but researchers say that's the wrong way to think of these essential creatures.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is on point, a Magna Chakrabardi.
0:11.6	What do you think of when I say the word parasite?
0:15.9	I'm betting it's maybe something slimy or gross.
0:19.6	Well, there are a lot of different kinds of parasites out there, and parasite ecologists
0:25.1	Chelsea Wood spends a lot of time looking at them and studying them, and she joins us
0:29.8	today.
0:30.8	Chelsea, what do you think of when you think of parasites?
0:35.2	The word parasite evokes for me this beautiful, netherworld of organisms that most people are
0:41.6	unfamiliar with that exists just under the surface of everything that's familiar and that are
0:46.8	beautiful.
0:47.8	They play by their own rules.
0:49.9	They do things that are out of a sci-fi movie, and yet they're more common than pretty
0:55.2	much any other organisms that surround us.
0:57.6	Well, Chelsea Wood is an associate professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
1:03.4	at the University of Washington, and Professor Wood does study parasites.
1:09.6	So I'm delighted to have you today, because in a sense, the fact that parasites occupy
1:16.1	this netherworld as you talk about means that we need to pay more attention to them.
1:22.0	So first of all, let's start with some of the basics.
1:25.2	Can we see parasites?
1:27.5	How should we define them?
1:29.2	What part of the kingdom of life are we talking about?
1:34.0	Well, that's a special thing about parasites.
	...

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