The Real Puppet Masters: The Gruesome Parasites Controlling Our Behaviour

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• Simon Spiro
• Monday 20 October 2008, 19:45-21:00
• Nihon Room, Pembroke College.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact David Gordon.

From “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” to “The Faculty”, mind controlling parasites have been a mainstay of science fiction to the point of cliché, but in this case the truth is almost as fantastic as the fiction. The Real Puppet Masters is a freak show of some of nature’s cleverest – and most sinister – creations. From the worms that zombify ants, to the barnacle that can make a male crab think it is its mother, to the parasite that could be influencing your decisions this very minute!

Bio: Simon Spiro is a fifth year veterinary student at Pembroke. He has a BA in microbiology and parasitology also from Cambridge, and has worked on the viruses that parasitize E.coli. He has never checked to find out which parasites he has himself, and is more than happy to live in ignorance.

This talk is part of the Pembroke Papers, Pembroke College series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Cambridge Infectious Diseases
• Nihon Room, Pembroke College
• Pembroke Papers, Pembroke College

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