Get Parasite, Get Sexy?

Gaby read an article in the Atlantic called "The Never-Aging Ants With a Terrible Secret: A parasite gives its hosts the appearance of youth, and an unmatched social power in the colony" by Katherine J. Wu and asks what if humans could experience this bizarre, better that your average parasitic experience?

So Matt volunteers to become Queen for a day... or a decade... until he's eaten by a Polar Bear. Ya never know what the IF will bring, and this week, it's a doozy, so grab your golden crown and prepare to live large in your social group when you get the tapeworm that makes you royal!

Here's the Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/05/ant-tapeworm/618919/

And here's the original scientific paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8131941/


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— Cheers from Philip, Matt and Gaby