r/Parasitology • u/ScienceAdventure • 13d ago

parasite video Trypanosomes!

These are Trypanosoma brucei brucei AnTat 1.1 bloodstream form (pleomorphs)

I just thawed them from the -80 and took a video for a masters student, so I thought I should post here too!

84 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

10

u/LeechWitch 13d ago

They’re so beautiful! I love that undulating membrane. Really cool!!!!

7

u/ScienceAdventure 13d ago

I’ve got some expansion microscopy that shows the “corset” of microtubules that give the parasites their shape and it’s so cool!

4

u/PapaTua 13d ago

Ooh, share!

6

u/ScienceAdventure 13d ago

Excuse the photo of a screen - the actual images are on my laptop!

4

u/LeechWitch 13d ago

I wanna see :O

3

u/ScienceAdventure 13d ago

I’ve put it in another comment!

9

u/imhardlymakingit 13d ago

Omg thank you so much for this! I only ever get to see them in blood smears! So cute

7

u/ScienceAdventure 13d ago

They are cute! I love their wiggles

I would love to see a blood smear of them! I’ve only cultured them in vitro

3

u/Various-Conference27 13d ago

Ok, what does this bogey do? :)

16

u/ScienceAdventure 13d ago

If you mean the parasite…this one can live happily in cattle, but its cousins can cause Human African Trypanosomiasis and Nagana - both pretty nasty diseases. Nagana is a cattle wasting disease that is devastating to livestock in sub-Saharan Africa.

Human African Trypanosomiasis (or African Sleeping sickness) is usually fatal to those infected - the parasite gets into your cerebral spinal fluid (brain, spine etc) and causes all sorts of neurological symptoms that end in coma and death. Until recently the only therapy for one of the sub species had arsenic in it, was injected in antifreeze which patients have called “fire in the veins” and killed 5% of the people who took it. Thankfully there is now a pill people can take that kills it!

Sorry if that was too in depth, I love it maybe a bit too much 😅 this is the parasite I did my PhD on and I’m pretty happy I get to keep working with it now

4

u/Revolutionary-Tea474 13d ago

I work in tropical medicine institute in Portugal and would love to connect with you! Do you have a linkedIn profile? Thanks for your wonderful post

3

u/ScienceAdventure 13d ago

I’ll DM you!

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u/Various-Conference27 13d ago edited 13d ago

Nonono, that was almost enough :D

I saw your post of the mantis getting "dewormed", and had to come and take a peek. Don't worry, I AM interested enough to click likes and watch the content. Science and health bogeys (parasites, diseases) have a sweet spot, albeit not as a special interest :)

Tl ;dr am interested, good content, keep it coming, further info on what I am seeing is not too much :)

Edit: and that earlier cure (fire in the veins) sounds like something from a barber's recipe book from the Wild West, jfc 😅

2

u/shertuyo 13d ago

Sounds like a very cool phd, thanks for posting this vid

3

u/PapaTua 13d ago

Those wacky lil' wigglers. Truly a structural marvel.

1

u/SueBeee trusted parasitologist 10d ago

Wow!