Symbionts & Parasites
Since I read almost everything on this forum and never discovered anything about the use of parasites and symbionts,
I want to open this thread for all who are interested in using original and genetic altered lifeforms for biological enhancement / cure of diseases.
For example :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy
I think this too could be productive in some ways.
I want to open this thread for all who are interested in using original and genetic altered lifeforms for biological enhancement / cure of diseases.
For example :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy
I think this too could be productive in some ways.
Comments
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2010/3029723.htm
It is a good listen. It seems like the parasite mentioned in this program would be an ideal partner for someone who suffers from anxiety (it triggers dopamine release). It would be cool if there was a parasite that could give you an acetylcholine boost.
As for choline acetyltransferase, it would probably be better to only release the enzyme, or acetylcholine itself, under certain conditions, so what we'd probably want is a bacterium that detects when we want the enzyme released, then releases it.
That's all due to the dopamine though (in response to stress). Some stress is good.
Of course, it's not about the stress, which is defined as changes to a normal routine. It's all about how you respond to it. Usually, people who tend to think about overcoming their stressors in a calm way tend to be able to overcome them much more easily than those who freak out.
Another interesting point: Why would the parasite try to get the host killed? Most parasites depend on their hosts for survival, and if they do end up killing the host, it's usually to maximize their spread (smallpox is a great example of that). The activity of this parasite just seems downright suicidal.
Maybe these parasites spread by their hosts getting eaten by a predator as well.
I'm trying to recall this all from memory and I'm probably butchering it. You should listen to the program. The impact of parasites on human society is huge. Apparently countries that have higher parasite infection rates tend to have stricter laws on business and investing due to higher rates of shady business practices and higher risk tolerances of it's people. Also, they are using them [the parasites] on schizophrenics but I forget why.
"
Relatives aside, individuals had extremely different gut bacteria,
with few genetic similarities from person to person. No single species
was present in more than 0.5% of the stool samples as a whole, and none
were found in all the people involved." (Source here).
Culturing a representative sample of your gut bacteria and testing your prospective introduced species ex situ should be relatively easy, but this is not an ideal environment for monkeying around in. There's almost no niche in your gut unexploited, so your bacteria would have to outcompete something. Insert terror-filled lab risk assessor here.
Also, fight or flight response is dead handy; I have never been more focussed or thought more clearly than when riding the edge of a wicked, panic-fueled adrenalin dump.
Whoever fixed my HTML; thanks.
Does anybody know what happend to that kind of project ?
We have so many nice drugs releasing dopamine when one needs it: anti-depressants, hundreds of stimulants.
@RandomCharacter: About acetylcholine: look at Alpha-GPC, it's costly but it really works.
@Monochrome I've heard of it, and I'll keep your recommendation in mind. I'm pretty happy with my current stack. I'm lucky in that I seem to have ideal genetics(or something) for DMAA.