49 min listen
Parasitism
FromIn Our Time
ratings:
Length:
46 minutes
Released:
Jan 26, 2017
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the relationship between parasites and hosts, where one species lives on or in another to the benefit of the parasite but at a cost to the host, potentially leading to disease or death of the host. Typical examples are mistletoe and trees, hookworms and vertebrates, cuckoos and other birds. In many cases the parasite species do so well in or on a particular host that they reproduce much faster and can adapt to changes more efficiently, and it is thought that almost half of all animal species have a parasitic stage in their lifetime. What techniques do hosts have to counter the parasites, and what impact do parasites have on the evolution of their hosts?
With
Steve Jones
Emeritus Professor of Genetics at University College, London
Wendy Gibson
Professor of Protozoology at the University of Bristol
and
Kayla King
Associate Professor in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
With
Steve Jones
Emeritus Professor of Genetics at University College, London
Wendy Gibson
Professor of Protozoology at the University of Bristol
and
Kayla King
Associate Professor in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
Released:
Jan 26, 2017
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
The 12th Century Renaissance: Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a period of great change in western Europe. by In Our Time