6 July 2008
The creepy side of science

Filed under Everything Else

Remind me never to be a test subject of Dr. David Pritchard. The good doctor, an immunologist-biologist at the University of Nottingham, is researching whether or not hookworm parasites in the human bloodstream can be beneficial. By lowering the body’s immune response mechanisms (thus making the hookworms’ new home a little more hospitable), the parasites can reduce the effects of autoimmune conditions such as seasonal allergies, hay fever, and asthma.

While Pritchard’s ultimate goal is to understand the processes the worms use to “turn down” the immune-system, I think I’ll stick with my rescue inhaler and wait for those same processes to be in pill-form. Without creepy-crawlies involved.

Of course, this kind of science toes the ethical line (introducing known harmful agents into the human body), so in Barry Marshall fashion, Pritchard started with the nearest subject he could find: himself.

In 2004, David Pritchard applied a dressing to his arm that was crawling with pin-size hookworm larvae, like maggots on the surface of meat. He left the wrap on for several days to make sure that the squirming freeloaders would infiltrate his system. [From Scientist at Work - David Pritchard - Scientist Studies Whether Hookworms Can Protect Against Allergies - NYTimes.com]

Yikes.

 ::  Adam