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42Evolution

Q&A

Can you make a brain the size of a human neuron?

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A selection of animals with very different brains. Clockwise from top left; Barn own (Tyto alba), a human (Homo sapiens), a Commissarisi’s Long tongued bat (Glossophaga commissarisi), and a red squirrel (Scirius vulgaris). (All images: Wikimedia commons)

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Toxoplasma gondii is a microbial parasite often carried by cats, and passed on through contaminated water and faeces. It infects almost all warm blooded animals. In humans this microbe is usually kept in check by the gut microbial community, which out-compete it. However if the gut bacterial community is not functioning normally, toxoplasmolysis may result. In rats and mice, the pathogen can pass into the blood stream and migrate to the brain, where it induces behavioural changes. Infected mice no longer recognise cats (or their odour) as dangerous, which provokes them to put themselves at risk. When a cat eats an infected rat, this spreads the pathogen to a new host. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

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