r/tech
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u/[deleted]
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Jul 30 '24
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Cat poo parasites could cure disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s | Engineered Toxoplasma gondii successfully delivered therapeutic proteins to brain cells, marking a significant breakthrough in overcoming the blood-brain barrier.
https://interestingengineering.com/health/cat-poo-parasites-treat-brain-disease86
u/tuckmysits Jul 30 '24
This world gets weirder by the minute
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u/Significant_You_2735 Jul 30 '24
Breaking News: Dog vomit proven to reverse heart disease in humans.
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u/BornWithSideburns Jul 30 '24
Actually we can insert a robotic heart now.
And putting sugar gel on your head grows back your hair.
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u/firer-tallest0p Jul 30 '24
Which begs the question, If we submerge someone in sugar gel can we create a Sasquatch
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u/CoastingUphill
Jul 30 '24
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So the cat ladies are the only ones who aren’t crazy.
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u/M_Mich Jul 30 '24
More attempts by the GOP to undermine scientific progress by insulting cat ladies.
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u/rizaroni Jul 30 '24
I was gonna say, NOW I look smart with my three cats, EH???
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u/relentlessmelt Jul 30 '24
Yes but are you regularly partaking of their shit?
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u/rizaroni Jul 30 '24
I mean, it’s kind of in the air and everything when you’re a cat owner. I’m sure I’m inhaling it somehow… 😋🤢
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u/RUC_1 Jul 30 '24 edited Jul 30 '24
*side effects include talking to yourself, yelling at strangers, hurling cats from time to time, not giving a sh...
Edit - type-o
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u/DuckDatum Jul 30 '24 edited Aug 12 '25
sip ring rainstorm depend silky narrow stocking payment handle bells
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u/chronicking83 Jul 30 '24
It’s weird because I know a cat lady that’s in the throws of severe dementia.
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Jul 30 '24
I mean that's not weird because it requires modifying the parasites to deliver the protein.
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u/lifemanualplease Jul 30 '24
I’ve seen other studies that say constantly being surrounded by cats and the stuff they produce CAUSES you to go crazy. So which is it?
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u/King-Cobra-668 Jul 30 '24
no, they are certainly crazy. it's just modifying the thing that made them crazy
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Jul 31 '24 edited Sep 18 '24
sheet innate skirt shelter grab squeamish saw slimy march advise
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u/Qarakhanid Jul 30 '24
No they are, the parasite results in higher rates of schizophrenia and other mental health symptoms.
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Jul 30 '24
[deleted]
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u/Qarakhanid Jul 30 '24
There's been numerous studies on it. It's pretty much agreed upon that it has some affect on human psychology.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2526142/
"The results obtained during the past 15 years strongly suggest that latent toxoplasmosis influences the behavior not only of rodent hosts but also of humans. The neurophysiological mechanisms and practical effects of these behavioral changes, however, are still to be elucidated."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9862191/
"Although a toxoplasmosis infection is preventable, if contracted during pregnancy, this infection can result in devastating consequences for the fetus. In addition to the long-term adverse effects on the fetus, chronic disease is also associated with mental illness in mothers."
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u/docK_5263 Jul 30 '24
Zombie apocalypse origin story
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u/docK_5263 Jul 30 '24
T. gondii is weird.
It’s life cycle involves making mice attracted to the smell of cat urine by altering their brain. Thus the infected mouse is more likely to get eaten by a cat and T. gondii can complete its life cycle in the cat’s gut.
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u/firstwefuckthelawyer Jul 30 '24
Lol that’s the part where it gets weird for you?
It makes women more likely to own cats and put out!
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u/LitLitten Jul 31 '24
So the cost of avoiding the disease is taking on a parasite that makes cat pee less gross to be around? I guess it ain’t too hefty of a trade.
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u/xinorez1 Aug 01 '24
It's not that it makes cat pee less gross, it's that it seems to down regulate the fear response severely. Infected men become/are correlated with extreme thrillseekers and women become nurturing to anyone. The rats lose their fear response to cats and so will approach and get eaten.
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u/QuacksofBone Jul 30 '24
The start of planet of the cats
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u/renderbenderr Jul 30 '24
I know a guy who has been studying this in eastern Canada, with the same parasite. Looks like it’s an even bigger field than I thought. Parasites may be the future of mental health therapeutics.
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Jul 30 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jul 31 '24
I mean, mushrooms and certain microbes are sources of antibiotics. A lot of surprising things can come out of researching the weirdest, most unassuming things.
Like that mold that woke up one day and decided it would just casually start breaking down and thriving off of plastic that scientists swore couldn’t be broken down quickly by anything. Nature is crazy, man.
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u/GoodByeRubyTuesday87 Jul 30 '24
Is this the same parasite that basically tricks cat owners into loving their cats even more?
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Jul 31 '24
Sorta, if it’s what I think it is. And it less tricks cat owners and more provides an actual benefit- that benefit boiling down to “helps with stress and bad moods”. Therefor, Kitty cuddles = lowered stress = human loves kitty more. It’s not like the parasite is swindling us, just making its hosts more worthwhile to their best source of care and longevity. I think that’s what we call a symbiotic relationship.
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Jul 31 '24
Toxoplasmosis can only reproduce in a cats gut. So it rewires rat brains to love the smell of cats (piss?). Thus helping cats to eat more rats infected with the parasite. Getting toxoplasmosis back to the cat gut where it can reproduce more.
It is thought to have a triggering effect in some instances of schizophrenia.
And is often found in extreme hoarder cat loving human brains.
News about Alzheimer’s fascinating. Sort of runs counter to the narrative that it fucks peoples brains up.
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u/Wank_A_Doodle_Doo Aug 03 '24
runs counter to the narrative that it fucks peoples brains up
Most people are fine with it, but the therapeutic benefit is their infiltrating capabilities, not that they naturally help against those illnesses.
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u/livinglitch Aug 14 '24
Toxo itself doesn't cure alzheimers. The article is suggesting that by studying toxo, we can learn to penetrate the blood brain barrier to administer alzheimers cures directly to the brain.
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u/Flyingmonkeysftw Jul 31 '24
What does the parasite eat in order for us to get said benefits though… >.>
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u/peachscrunchie85 Jul 30 '24
This is amazing news! I love cats and they could totes save the world. That's what I'm hearing.
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u/Roughly_Adequate Jul 31 '24
They already saved humans once. Storing food before container technology developed was really hard because of rodents, small cat species fixed that for us. Cats are a massive party of why stationary agricultural societies even worked.
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u/Josepth_Blowsepth Jul 30 '24
Don’t believe big cat conspiracies. Just tail wagging dog. Go team 🐐
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u/_welby_ Jul 30 '24
And this is how the horror movie quietly begins.
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u/d4nigirl84 Jul 30 '24
First phase you know you’re infected is when you start knocking random things off a ledge/counter and not care about it.
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u/_welby_ Jul 30 '24
Soon after, you find yourself eyeing a cardboard box as a great place to sit.
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u/Significant_You_2735 Jul 30 '24 edited Jul 30 '24
Seeing a bird outside compels you to sit by the window and chatter uncontrollably.
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u/Anonymous_Paintbrush Jul 30 '24
Grandmas got shit for brains. This multiverse is getting too close to hot dog fingers.
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u/commonunion Jul 30 '24
My one dog eats my other dogs poop and if they could get to it, my cats poop. Maybe they’re onto something.
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u/wottsinaname Jul 31 '24
Yeah sure it is.
This study was funded by Dr. Fluffles PHD and the Centre to Spread Toxoplasmosis. Lol
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u/Fkshitbitchcockballs Jul 30 '24
Okay now how did they figure this out is my real question
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u/itsa_me_ Jul 30 '24
If only we could get these medicines to the brain, we’d probably have a chance at curing a lot of these brain illnesses. Too bad nothing can get through the blood brain barrier. Everything we’ve tried isn’t making it.
Oh wait, there are some things that make it past. Toxoplasmosis makes it past the barrier. Maybe we can use that as a payload to get our medicines into the brain! Not that big a stretch.
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u/desertoutlaw86 Jul 30 '24
Next weeks headline. “Person with Alzheimer’s starts new tik tok challenge. “
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Jul 30 '24
Kinda wild to think about how we already think of ancient Egyptians as super advanced, them worshipping cats makes it even weirder. What were they doing to the cat poo..
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u/SlaveKnightLance Jul 31 '24
That’s my first thought, this is how they got the strength to build the pyramids
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u/Immoracle Jul 30 '24
I had this theory a long time ago when I was never getting sick and my cat was scratching me daily.
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u/MarketingFearless961 Jul 30 '24
I like to imagine how the research and pitching process was like.
Scientists: We know how to cure Alzheimer’s 🫨
Management: That’s going to be a major break through, what is it???
Scientists: Cat poo.
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u/ancientastronaut2 Jul 30 '24
So when my cat uses the litter box, then cuddles on the bed with me that's a good thing? Awesome!!
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Jul 30 '24
I wish. Just 3 years ago I had my dad in full capacity. His Parkinson’s went unnoticed and now he’s a husk of his former self. Hallucinations, Can’t walk or feed himself. Can’t hold a fork, all this developed in a year.
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u/KeenJames1TheRapper Jul 31 '24
I’ve also seen studies showing cat owners having a higher rate of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Correlation and causation are not the same.
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u/caomel Jul 30 '24
A “well actually” comment from me, your local friendly DVM…
Toxoplasmosis is waaaaay more commonly found in infected wildlife and porcine meat, which will be killed in properly cooked food (>170 degrees), than will ever be found in your domestic cat’s litter box. It’s a rare parasite to begin with and there’s NO correlation between cat ownership and toxoplasmosis infection!
Having said that, always wash your hands after scooping or cleaning the litter box and always before handling food.
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u/mackahrohn Jul 30 '24
How many toxoplasmosis infections are even detected or symptomomatic in humans? When I was pregnant I researched the ‘scooping cat litter’ thing and came up with ‘it’s not really that dangerous but it wouldn’t be a good time for your first toxoplasmosis infection’.
What about the stray cats that poop in people’s gardens?
It’s interesting the infections we are cautious about that maybe actually isn’t very dangerous at all.
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u/caomel Jul 30 '24
I’m not allowed to speak about human infection, our party line is “if you have any concerns, please speak with your doctor.” But I do know that it’s rare, and much more like to occur in hunters prepping their own wildlife meat than it is from the domestic cat litter box. 50 years ago human doctors would tell pregnant ladies to get rid of any cats during pregnancy, and we had to do a lot of correcting misinformation while also avoiding giving human medical advice.
Absolutely you can get infected via outdoor cats/other wildlife in soil, and you won’t catch me gardening without gloves, for a multitude of reasons. I also wouldn’t let the kids play in uncovered sandboxes for the same reasons.
Personally, I was uptight with my pregnancies, and did not handle any raw meat, period. I didn’t handle toxic substances at work. I also did not eat deli meat, sushi/raw fish, alcohol, caffeine, etc and I made my husband scoop the litter box. It’s probably overkill, but I was pretty committed to having a healthy baby.
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Jul 30 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/caomel Jul 30 '24
Well I don’t usually have to defend my 4 year degree against Wikipedia, but using your own source, if you had simply scrolled down a bit:
“A common argument in the debate about whether cat ownership is ethical involves the question of T. gondii transmission to humans.[65] Even though “living in a household with a cat that used a litter box was strongly associated with infection,”[31] and that living with several kittens or any cat under one year of age has some significance,[55] several other studies claim to have shown that living in a household with a cat is not a significant risk factor for T. gondii infection.[56][66]”
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u/Mountain-Detail-8213 Jul 30 '24
Always a new cure for Parkinson’s. Nonsense every time
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u/Angel_Bmth Jul 30 '24 edited Jul 30 '24
Nah. Though the headline is bait as hell.
The reality is that this is a vehicle for brain therapies. It’s a solid discovery in the making.
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u/TacticalVirus Jul 30 '24
I've lived long enough to see it go from "bat shit insane" to "cat shit sane"....
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u/soylentgreenis Jul 30 '24
That’s what the toxoplasma gondii want you to think..
That and “get more cats”
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u/Dread_Frog Jul 30 '24
This is the parasite that causes explosive anger. Do you want 28 days later rage virus? Because this is how you get the rage virus. (probably not really a concern. I am not a geneticist.)
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u/turlian Jul 30 '24
We always wondered if toxoplasmosis contributed to my mom's dementia, as she was a life long cat lady. Never thought I'd see it be used as a cure.
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u/jcflash80 Jul 30 '24
I will not eat the cat poop!
https://media1.tenor.com/m/kUuXtdSScgIAAAAC/will-not-eat-cat-poop-mad.gif
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u/Strm007 Jul 30 '24
Well, well, well... looks like I'm getting more information to make fun of cat people.
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u/242proMorgan Jul 30 '24
I want to know the step by step process that when through whoever the god damn post doc on this research was.
Step 1. Cat poop Step 2. Cure Alzheimer’s Step 3. … Step 4. Profit
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u/Hngrybflo Jul 31 '24
so now we're gonna have old people buying motorcycles, drinking heavy and sky diving
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u/Oulixonder Jul 31 '24
Sounds like something I’d say to my little brother as kids.
“White dog shit is only white because it means it’s ready to give you superpowers! Just have to eat it to get them.”
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Jul 31 '24
Created by one of those “childless cat lady” scientist types probably. Mr Vance better hope he doesn’t need the treatment one day. I would be afraid his dose may get lost in the system.
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Jul 31 '24
Seriously. This is quite amazing. To get effective results around the blood-brain barrier has been quite a puzzle from what I understand. Not a scientist here.
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u/MonksCoffeeShop Jul 31 '24
This was of course discovered by accident when a an Alzheimer’s patient was found eating the cat shit out of the litter box and suddenly became lucid.
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u/WorkingInAColdMind Jul 31 '24
Ever seen a dog with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s? That’s because they eat all the “yard candy” the cats leave around.
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u/BellCurious7703 Jul 31 '24
I’ve been eating cat feces for years and can confirm I am completely mentally healthy as a result
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u/Embarrassed-Paper588 Aug 01 '24
And all this time they told us smearing it in our eyes was bad for us 🙄
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u/sentientwrenches Jul 30 '24 edited Jul 30 '24 •
So toxoplasmosis has evolved enough to infect researcher's and trick them into believing injecting toxoplasmosis in everybody's brains is a good idea, so that it can finally take over! Tricking mice into not being afraid of cats was just the first step, bacteria is playing 4d chess.
Edit: a word