Stargate SG-1: True Science Page #2

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They take advantage of other creatures

using their body as a free lunch.

They are ruthless, taking what they need,

reproducing, and then moving on.

And revoltingly, we humans are

the perfect place for them to live.

Yuck!

There are a big variety of parasites

that infect human beings:

lice, ticks, flukes that live in the bloodstream.

There are large nemetodes that live in your intestines,

there are parasites that live in your mouth.

Some of them cause very

destructive erosion of the skin,

others are very damaging

to the spleen and to the liver.

There are at least two hundred species that some of us,

at least, have been infected with over the years.

What makes the Goa'uld so particularly scary

is that they totally take over their human host.

But, you guessed it, it turns out this crazy science

fiction fantasy is actually based on real science.

There are many reported cases in nature of parasites

being able to change the behaviour of their hosts.

These are pictures of Dicrocoelium dendriticum.

They live part of their life cycle

within an ant's body and brain.

It's a parasite, just like

the Goa'uld, only a bit smaller.

Its larva digs its way to the ant's brain

where it perverts the ant's natural instincts,

so instead of the ant cowering safely

in the undergrowth like any good ant would,

it suddenly becomes compelled to self-destruct

by climbing to the top of a blade of grass

where passing sheep will eat it.

Once in the sheep, the parasit

can continue its revolting life cycle.

Oh, but it doesn't just happen in ants, oh no!

Hold onto your stomachs,

because scientists suggest

that some parasites can actually

make us humans do stuff we can't control.

For example, the pig tapeworm that human

beings get from eating uncooked pork,

those worms form cysts in various parts

of the body, including the brain,

and as a result

we have all kinds

of behavioural changes, dizziness, lethargy,

sometimes a loss of vision,

so this is another case in which

our behaviour is altered by a parasite.

So if tapeworms can change our behaviour

and make us dizzy and tired,

is it possible that an alien parasite like

the Goa'uld could control our minds completely?

The evolutionary rules say that

there has to be a reason for it,

so maybe infection with a certain kind of

tapeworm might make us become evil or criminal.

If there's a reason that has to do with...

reproductive success, then sure, why not?

Scared yet?

You should be,

because as it turns out, Professor Janovy believes

we might not be the dominant creatures on Earth.

It's the parasites.

They infect everything, they are more diverse,

they are successful in occupying environments

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