News by Subject Biology

A native mosquito in Missouri has fewer parasites when it shares its waters with an interloper, according to new research from biologists at Tyson Research Center, the environmental field station for Washington University in St. Louis.

Tungiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by penetrated sand fleas which burrow into the skin of the feet. Public health policies such as sealing house and classroom floors and daily feet washing with soap could cut the number of tungiasis cases in school-aged children, researchers now report in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Bedbugs - some of the most unwanted human bed-mates -- have been parasitic companions with other species aside from humans for more than 100 million years, walking the earth at the same time as dinosaurs.

South American fur seal pups with high levels of hookworm infection spend more time in the water, but that's not necessarily a good thing, report Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at the University of Georgia.

The quantity and quality of antibodies recognizing the end region of the malaria parasite's CSP protein is a good marker of protection by the RTS,S/AS01E vaccine, shows a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by 'la Caixa.' The results provide valuable information for guiding the design of future, more effective vaccines.

A species of globally recognised medicinal mushroom was recorded for the first time in Thailand. Commonly referred to as lingzhi, the fungus (Ganoderma tropicum) was collected from the base of a living tree in Chiang Rai Province, Northern Thailand. In their study, published in the open-access journal MycoKeys, the scientists also report the first assessment of the optimum conditions needed for the species to grow its mycelia and spread its colony.