Posted on 05/14/2025 7:50:37 PM PDT by Red Badger
E. histolytica, shown in green, attacking human white blood cells (Credit: Katherine Ralston).
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New analysis by scientists from the University of California, Davis has determined that an invasive ‘Skinwalker’ parasite that kills thousands of people every year uses pieces of its prey’s “skin” as a disguise to evade detection.
Dubbed Entamoeba histolytica, previous studies have unlocked several clues on how this deadly parasite, which is typically found in developing countries that lack clean water, can evade the human immune system. However, this is the first to directly observe the single-celled organism donning the remains of a destroyed cell to escape death.
Invasion of the Skinwalker Parasite
E. histolytica, whose species name means “tissue-dissolving,” infects over 50 million people each year. While most escape with little more than a case of dysentery, this invasive organism kills over 70,000 of its victims. According to a statement from the research team behind the latest Skinwalker parasite discovery, this parasite is incredibly adept at killing virtually any type of cell in the human body.
“It can kill anything you throw at it, any kind of human cell,” explained Katherine Ralston, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and the lead author of the new study.
Nature features a range of invasive parasites, including penis worms that used the discarded homes of other organisms millennia before hermit crabs, jumping leeches, plastic-eating super worms, and mysterious larval forms of parasitic worms. Over the years, some scientists have argued that given the prevalence of parasitism in Earth’s biology, preparing for the possibility of an extraterrestrial parasite invasion might even be worthwhile.
When Ralston first began studying E. histolytica in 2011, scientists believed it killed its target cells with a kind of poison. However, when the researcher looked at the Skinwalker parasite under a microscope, she saw that it was taking tiny bites out of cells instead of injecting any poison.
“You could see little parts of the human cell being broken off,” Ralston explained.
Further research determined that this process, called “trogocytosis,” was the parasite’s preferred method of assassination. Ralston published this finding in 2014, offering scientists trying to defeat this deadly organism a critical path forward.
“This was important,” she said. “To devise new therapies or vaccines, you really need to know how E. histolytica damages tissue.”
Still, exactly how this clever organism was able to evade the human immune system’s “complement proteins” that typically combat this type of threat remained a mystery. Now, Ralston believes she has found the answer, potentially offering researchers a new tool for combating E. histolytica.
How Parasite Wears Its Victim’s Skin to Evade Detection
In their published study, Ralston and graduate students Maura Ruyechan and Wesley Huang studied the genetic mechanisms that allowed the Skinwalker parasite to perform tasks such as taking a bite out of a cell or stealing its protein. They soon determined that the process involved the organism manipulating its genetic expression to trigger certain functions. For example, the amoeba was triggering certain DNA segments to attach to a target cell and tear it apart.
The team also found that the Skinwalker parasite was ingesting proteins from the outer membranes of human cells and placing them on its own surface. This cellular disguise, which consists of human proteins called CD46 and CD55, prevented ‘complementary proteins’ from latching onto the parasite’s surface. As a result, the white blood cells and other immune system mechanisms tasked with killing E. histolytica were unable to “see” it and kill it.
“In essence, the amoebae are killing human cells and then donning their protein uniforms as a disguise, allowing them to evade the human immune system,” the statement from the research team explains.
Discovering how this clever parasite evades the human immune system is just the first step. The team believes that combining this new information with the genetic editing tool CRISPR could allow researchers to track the genetic-manipulating mechanisms as they occur, resulting in a much better understanding of how these organisms operate. If successful, the team believes this could help the development of drugs and other therapies designed to attack E. histolytica where it is most vulnerable.
“We now see a light at the end of the tunnel, and we think this could be achievable,” said Huang.
“Science is a process of building,” added Ralston. “You have to build one tool upon another, until you’re finally ready to discover new treatments.”
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Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
“Nature features a range of invasive parasites, including penis worms”
Okay, I don’t wanna know any more.
Scary.
As if we don’t already have enough to worry about…..
Pretty soon scientists will ask the question that everyone wants to know the answer to:
Are there penis worms on Uranus?
Well that’s reassuring, thanks.
It causes amoebic dysentery. Very common in many parts of the globe. My best friend nearly died of it in SE Asia. It can range from very mild to deadly.
I hate Illinois penis worms. “Rail-splitters” brrrrr
I read recently that ‘Swedish Bitters’ have been used to counter parasites...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_bitters
RB, you have the best politic busting posts around. After reading about constant wokery, media gaslighting, and Democrat skullduggery, they are always a nice change of pace, interesting, and I always learn something. Keep it up, and you will be our MAGA Bill Nye :)
Well, that’s enough internet for tonight…
Camphor? Yuck! I bet it tastes awful!
But if it works, then I wish I’d had some back in the day in SE Asia.
The people had never heard of the germ theory and laughed at you if you tried to explain it to them. It just seemed preposterous to them.
There was this one poor tiny baby ...
Her mother was being treated for TB and the French doctors down to the south had told her not to breastfeed her baby because the drugs could harm her, and had given her powdered formula and bottles.
Well, the baby kept getting amoebic dysentery, and the mother would wait until the poor little thing was so dehydrated her soft spot was totally sunken in and bring her to our office in the middle of the night. I’d get a radio call, go to the office and stay up past dawn saving the baby.
I stressed to the mother the importance of boiling the water she used to make the formula and boiling the bottle, nipple, etc., too.
A few weeks later ... my radio cracking in the middle of the night, same baby, again severely dehydrated, amoebic dysentery.
The third time, I told the mother a terrible lie. I knew that while these people “no believe” in germs and parasites, they very much believed in ghosts and evil spirits. So I told her an evil spirit was making her baby sick. And that the only way to make her baby safe from it was to boil the evil spirit away. I told her it went up in the steam and she would see it. That she had to keep boiling as the steam rose while singing a popular local folk song five times to make sure the evil spirit was gone.
It worked. No more sick baby.
Of course I’d never have given yucky bitters to that little baby — but if it actually worked, and it tasted bad enough, maybe the adults would have been more diligent about boiling their water if they knew the cure would be so yucky.
This is about Congress right?
Ya just had to go there didnja?
1982… “The Thing”…
That screenshot made Wilfred Brimley lose it….
Total fornicating BS.
Wifey has a penisworm infestation regularly (part of a healthy marriage) and doesn’t complains. Uranus never come up though. Some things are better Left untouched.
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