Protista as disease-carriers
Protista live anywhere, provided there is even a little amount of water.
There are marine and freshwater species that live both floating on the water or on the seabed. A small water pond is enough for these micro-organisms to live; they can usually be found even in the thin film of water that covers the soil particles. Finally, there are many parasitic species, some of which transmit serious diseases to man. Here are some of the most important diseases that affect man:
• the sleeping sickness caused by trypanosomes, such as, for instance, the Tripanosoma gambiense, transmitted to man by some species of the tsetse fly
• toxoplasmosis, a disease affecting nearly 50% of the human population; harmless in itself, it becomes dangerous when it affects a pregnant woman since it is transmitted to the child, causing deformities
• malaria, transmitted to man by the anopheles, parasited by the Plasmodium. This disease still causes approximately 3 million victims a year, of whom one million are African children.
Special reports
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2 July 2014
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo...
8 March 2022
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
27 February 2022
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
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12 February 2022
A naturalist’s voyage around the world
Charles Darwin was just 22 years old when he set sail on board HMS Beagle...
18 December 2021
The Christmas Star Tradition
Let's discover together stories and legends about the Christmas Star...
15 September 2021
Can you be intelligent without a brain?
Can you be intelligent without a brain? The answer is "in a certain sense, yes" and this is demonstrated by…
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26 July 2021
Japanese beetles and other alien species
There is a beetle that has been invading the Italian countryside and cities for some time now, a small insect…
16 June 2021
A turtle’s life
World Sea Turtle Day is held on 16 June. First established in 2008, the day is now supported by Sea…
10 June 2021
The world below
Journey to the Centre of the Earth is a famous science fiction novel written by the great Jules Verne in…
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2 July 2014
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo...
8 March 2022
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
-
27 February 2022
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
12 February 2022
A naturalist’s voyage around the world
Charles Darwin was just 22 years old when he set sail on board HMS Beagle...
-
18 December 2021
The Christmas Star Tradition
Let's discover together stories and legends about the Christmas Star...
15 September 2021
Can you be intelligent without a brain?
Can you be intelligent without a brain? The answer is "in a certain sense, yes" and this is demonstrated by…
-
2 July 2014
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo...
-
8 March 2022
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
-
27 February 2022
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
From the Multimedia section
Facts
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Bio-luminescence
Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...
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Bread and cheese, wine or beer
Yeast is used to make wine, beer and bread. When mixed with the bread dough...
Down-pouring bacteria
It sounds incredible, but recent researches have found that bacteria can cause some atmospheric phenomena...
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Bacteria as Sherlock Holmes
A drop of blood, a fragment of skin or a hair found on the scene of a crime can supply…
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13 May 2011
Bio-luminescence
Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...
-
Bread and cheese, wine or beer
Yeast is used to make wine, beer and bread. When mixed with the bread dough...
-
Down-pouring bacteria
It sounds incredible, but recent researches have found that bacteria can cause some atmospheric phenomena...
-
Bio-luminescence
Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...