the.com/helminthology
the science of worms that have outnumbered, outlived, and outsmarted us inside our own guts
means The branch of zoology devoted to the study of parasitic worms, especially the ones that infest humans and animals.
from From the Greek 'helmins' (genitive 'helminthos'), meaning 'worm' — specifically the intestinal kind — joined to '-logia,' 'the study of.' The Greek root surfaces in modern medical Latin as 'anthelmintic,' the class of drugs whose whole job is to be 'against the worm.' The word itself is a relatively modern scientific compound, assembled in the manner of so many 19th-century -ologies, when naturalists were busy giving every creeping thing a dignified academic department.
- core subject
- parasitic worms infecting humans, animals, and plants
- global reach
- over a billion people host these worms now
- tapeworm length
- some species exceed 25 meters inside one host
- immune trick
- worms suppress allergies, inspiring therapy research
- ancient evidence
- worm eggs found in 8,000-year-old human remains
hookworm infection — affects over 400 million people globally, studied extensively since the 1800s
schistosomiasis — parasitic disease infecting 200+ million people, primarily in africa and asia
guinea worm eradication — helminth disease reduced from millions of cases in 1986 to near zero by 2015