Random Musings of an Ethnic Artist

ROBERT SAPOLSKY/Stanford University - The parasite my lab is beginning to focus on is one in the world of mammals, where parasites are changing mammalian behavior. It’s got to do with this parasite, this protozoan called Toxoplasma. If you’re ever pregnant, if you’re ever around anyone who’s pregnant, you know you immediately get skittish about cat feces, cat bedding, cat everything, because it could carry Toxo. And you do not want to get Toxoplasma into a fetal nervous system. It’s a disaster.

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ROBERT SAPOLSKY is a professor of biological sciences at Stanford University and of neurology at Stanford’s School of Medicine. His books include A Primate’s Memoir, and Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: A Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases and Coping.