Comment by IneffablePigeon
16 hours ago
My partner researches one parasite named in this study (a type of whipworm) and they actually get their eggs for in vitro work from another researcher abroad who infected himself with the parasite because he finds it helps with his autoimmune disease. He harvests the eggs and distributes them to other teams.
Scientists that study mosquitoes in a lab will commonly feed the mosquitoes with their own blood. Literally sticking their arm in and letting them feed.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/23/mosqu...
That makes sense because to an extent the immune system can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Immune cells often get polarized to either type 1 (viruses, cancer, autoimmunity) or type 2 (parasites, worms, toxins) immune responses but not both. So he’s effectively distracting his immune system.