Parasites

New technology is helping farmers to prevent drench resistance and keep sheep parasite-free. Audio

A lack of sunshine means your immune system doesn't work as well, and your defence mechanisms suffer similarly. Professor Steve Jones explains the role light plays in our health, and why we need to go… Audio

Playing host to helminth parasitic worms could hold the key to living longer and staying free of chronic disease, according to a new article published in the eLife journal. Gastroenterologist Dr Tom… Audio

Two stories about science pathways - Katy Gosset heads to the University of Canterbury STEM careers fair to find out what the future might be for science students, while Claire Concannon learns about… Audio

Diseases transmitted by cats costs the Australian economy more than A$6 billion annually. This news is bad for New Zealand, too, with 45% of Kiwi households having at least one cat. Professor Sarah… Audio

Victoria University entomologist Phil Lester is investigating the prevalence of a disease affecting monarch butterflies - and he's enlisting the help of citizen scientists.The disease, caused by a… Audio, Gallery

Science correspondent Siouxsie Wiles looks at how an improved supercooling method could extend the life of donated organs by a day, the genetic mutation that makes people feel rested on just six hours… Audio

Veterinarian Anthony Oswald says parasites in sheep have developed a resistance to some drenches and farmers need to re-think when they drench and how they manage their stock to make sure their… Audio

Parasitic worms are an extremely diverse and ubiquitous bunch, but often get overlooked due to their habitation within other animals. Dr Bronwen Presswell from the University of Otago's Evolutionary… Audio, Gallery

Science news with Dr Chris Smith, and how some parasites, like intestinal worms, suppress a hosts's immune system to stop them from being attacked. Also cancers carry microbes with them when they… Audio

A surgeon recently removed a 27-centimetre long worm – along with many of its brothers and sisters – from a North Korean soldier. But that's not as big as worm invaders get, says parasitologist Bruce… Audio

A parasite is an organism that lives in another organism, called the host, and often harms it. It is dependent on its host for survival - it has to be in the host to live, grow and multiply. A… Audio, Gallery

Australian medical researcher Dr Paul Giacomin has successfully used hookworms to alleviate the symptoms of coeliac disease. Coeliac sufferers experience an autoimmune reaction to gluten which results… Audio

Five hundred barber's pole worms can kill a sheep. They suck so much of the animal's blood that when you cut its throat, it doesn't bleed. Sheep farmer Gordon Levet has spent a lifetime breeding sheep… Audio

The idea of having parasitic worms is pretty disgusting. But scientists are increasingly realising that some of these worms do us more good than harm. Some have gone so far as to introduce certain… Audio, Gallery

In a novel extension of the 'hygeine hypothesis', biologists argue we should save the parasites of endangered species for the sake of their host's immune system. Audio