Quoth the backstreet boys: bye! bye! bye! BYE! BYE!

real talk tho, love this guy's energy and his passion for science. When's he going to be on Ologies?
posted by snerson at 9:58 AM on January 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

MetaFilter: just ewwwww.
posted by Splunge at 10:04 AM on January 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

That was actually pretty interesting; sounds like the pandemic impacted this guy's life a lot more than the hookworms did. I wonder which study group he was in; I'll have to remember to check back and see if he finds out.

On the other hand, if you want a parasite story with a serious EWW factor, try the one in this FPP from back in the day.
posted by TedW at 10:19 AM on January 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is amazing. I have only hosted a few botflies, accidentally, but feeling them wiggling around in my elbow was deeply weird. I would absolutely be infected for science!
posted by ChuraChura at 10:27 AM on January 29, 2021 [3 favorites]

"Of all the parasites I've had over the years, these worms are among the... hell, they are the best!"
posted by teraflop at 10:48 AM on January 29, 2021 [5 favorites]

He mentioned that his allergies improved. I hope someday we use that info to free us from pollen misery without having to carry around parasites.
posted by emjaybee at 12:38 PM on January 29, 2021 [6 favorites]

Metafilter: impacted this guy's life a lot more than the hookworms did
posted by Big Al 8000 at 5:14 PM on January 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

This sounds a lot like the Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire) Parasitiology trilogy, in which parasites are used as a cure for a lot of medical problems. AND THEN THINGS GO WRONG.... As I recall, she got one put into her as well FOR SCIENCE....
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:29 PM on January 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

Hehe, delightful and fascinating -- thanks! I especially like the part about the home poop pickup during COVID.
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:13 PM on January 29, 2021

This was such an interesting read¡ªthank you for posting it! Parasites, worms, etc. are not my fave, but I guess my interest in biology wins out because I thoroughly enjoyed that.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:46 PM on January 30, 2021

This caught my attention because I heard this segment on Radiolab years ago. It talks about the (potential, experimental) seasonal allergy benefits. While googling to find that segment I also found this epilogue that involves the FDA.
posted by commander_fancypants at 11:18 PM on January 30, 2021

I have been circling around this topic for several years of occasional research. The idea that humans and intestinal worms evolved together and that that the parsimonious forces of nature eventually shifted a lot of the operation of the human immune system to these symbiotes is an interesting one. And that removing these creatures from our bodies with modern medicine sends some people into problems with allergies, inflammation, and diabetes that they just wouldn't have if we all still had hookworms in our intestines.

I'm not completely sold, but I have some resources for anyone who wants to speak with the people who are experimenting on themselves in this way, or look at the very slowly emerging real scientific studies that are starting to happen. Surprisingly, this resource is on Facebook, where the group "Helminthic Therapy Support" has a fantastic moderator who keeps an extensive and updated wiki, and answers questions. It has a strict science-focused culture, with the proviso that there isn't a whole lot of science being done around this topic yet.

It's a hard decision to make that final leap to ordering and infecting yourself, but years of chronic pain with a family member that won't respond to any other medicine has had us coming very close a few times. What ultimately stops us is the reports that one of the few things helminths won't help with is fibromyalgia, which is unfortunately one of our family member's diagnosis.
posted by seasparrow at 3:53 PM on February 6, 2021