Host-parasite interactions are dynamic biological processes encompassing the molecular, cellular, physiological, and ecological exchanges between a parasite and its host that determine infection establishment, persistence, and transmission. They include mechanisms of host recognition and invasion, nutrient acquisition, immune evasion and modulation by the parasite, and host immune detection, effector responses, and tolerance strategies. These interactions drive coevolutionary arms races, shaping parasite virulence, host resistance, and specificity through genetic variation and selection. At the systems level, host-parasite interactions influence pathogen life cycles, tissue tropism, and disease outcomes, integrating signaling pathways, microbiome context, and environmental factors that modulate susceptibility and epidemiological patterns.
Like many parasites, nematomorphs are known to manipulate their hosts' behavior to complete their life cycles. Also known as horsehair worms, among other names, these creatures develop in their hosts' body cavities and lure ...
Ecology
Sep 29, 2026
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Earwigs, small, elongated insects with distinctive pincers at the rear of their abdomens, have little reason to enter open water. While many earwig species are attracted to damp environments, they typically avoid open water. ...
Before the parasite Toxoplasma gondii can invade a cell, it has to know it has reached the right place. New research from the Whitehead Institute reveals that the parasite doesn't simply recognize a ready-made doorway into ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 25, 2026
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38
Tiny insects called aphids inject hundreds of mysterious proteins into plants, hijacking the plants' own genomes to build galls: structures made of plant tissue but constructed to the insects' specifications to house and ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 24, 2026
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A team of scientists from the Faculty of Science at Charles University has achieved a major breakthrough in research into schistosomiasis, a serious tropical disease affecting more than 250 million people worldwide. Using ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 8, 2026
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Feeding stations providing food and water for wild birds are contributing to the spread of disease-causing parasites among farmland birds, researchers have said, with birds three times more likely to catch a parasite from ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 4, 2026
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36
Parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii and the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum depend on rapid, precisely controlled movement to complete their life cycles. To start moving, they must assemble actin filaments at their ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 28, 2026
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There is an old saying that nature is the best medicine, and it turns out bumblebees might agree. A new study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science suggests that buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) may ...
Many plant species parasitize other plants by latching on and taking the nutrients their hosts need to survive. But sometimes, plants steal more than nutrients; they take genes.
Plants & Animals
Aug 27, 2026
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Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have identified a potential new target to prevent the spread of Chagas disease. The parasitic infection is transmitted through the bite of the kissing bug in Central and South America ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 26, 2026
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