Episode 40 The sex life – or lack of it – of Trypanosomes: Interview with Dr Willie Weir
“Zero Sex is a Killer” “Bug’s Weird Sex Life could make it go extinct, say Scottish Scientists”: Dr Willie Weir, a researcher from the Institute—and one of the Scottish scientists responsible for these recent headlines—joins Steve Larcombe on this episode of Naturally Speaking Shorts.
Weir tells Steve about his latest research on the trypanosome worms that cause African sleeping sickness, and how his new paper has caused a stir in media outlets worldwide.
Find out why we should care about what parasites get up to behind closed doors, and what it is like for a researcher to have their work heavily publicised and take on a life of its own.
Find out more about Willie Weir and Annette Macleod.
For further reporting of their findings a selection of links are provided below:
Scientific American; Eureka Alert
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Feature image: Trypanosoma brucei brucei [CC BY-NC-ND], The Wellcome Library. Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0].
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