#ascaris

[wikipediapictures]

Ascaris

“Section of female Ascaris photographed with Nikon 1,40 Darkfield oil condenser. 200 magnification. The large circles filled with small green circles are the uterus and eggs. The long narrow feature is the digestive tract. The smaller red and orange circles are the ovaries and oviducts. The cluster of green and black blobs in the upper right and lower left are the nerve cords (ventral and dorsal). Surrounding the internal organs are the frilly green longitudinal muscles, the dark hypodermis, and the green outer cuticle.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[biologist4ever]

Ever wondered what a parasitic roundworm looks like from the inside? 🌿🔬

This stunning microscopic cross-section of a male Ascaris nematode (one of the most common human intestinal parasites) reveals its beautifully organized internal world at 200× magnification.

Highlights include:

The prominent digestive tract (that curved, ribbon-like tube in warm tones)

Nerve cords and longitudinal muscle bands enabling its characteristic thrashing movement

The thick protective cuticle glowing as a bright outer rim

The vibrant colors come from specialized staining (likely fluorescence or polychrome techniques), turning a simple histology slide into biological art.

A reminder of how complex even "simple" organisms are — and why microscopy continues to amaze and educate us.

[nerds-yearbook]

In 64 AD, the time traveling alien known as the Doctor (Doctor 1) and his companions were taking a much needed rest in ancient Rome when the break was interrupted resulting in Ian being made a galley slave and then a gladiator and Barbara also made a slave. During the course of the adventure, the Doctor inspired Nero to burn Rome. ("The Romans", Doctor Who, vlm 1 TV)

[redhotarsenic]

Finally figured out Ascaris yahoo yippee

[chimeride]

[crowcussion]

ralsei my beloved

i’m replaying deltarune and i’m remembering why i love ralsei so i drew him because when you love a character, you draw them

or that’s just me 🤷

[portrait-of-the-jaded-dawn]

Ascaris - Uncured Sickness (1994)

[bpod-bpod]

Past and Present

Parasitic worms, or helminths, are thought to affect over 1.5 billion people worldwide, particularly in developing nations. While rarely fatal, helminth infections can be seriously harmful, especially to children, with links to malnutrition and impaired development. In Europe, infections are now extremely rare, but evidence from helminth eggs (pictured) found in archaeological sites indicates they were common in the Middle Ages. Most recently, researchers identified eggs of both soil-dwelling nematodes and tapeworms associated with undercooked meat and fish in medieval graves in several European countries. Though rates vary between sites and species, they estimated 25% of the population on average was infected with Ascaris nematodes, mirroring some modern estimates in high-risk areas. Faced with a similar problem to affected communities today, improvements in sanitation, water treatment and hygiene processes brought infections down in Europe, before anti-helminth drugs existed, suggesting that such changes are a key part of tackling this problem.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Image by Adrian Smith and Patrik Flammer, University of Oxford, UK

Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Research published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, August 2020

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