Hookworms suppress human immune response (but that's a good thing)
"While carrying out field work in Papua New Guinea in the late 1980s, David Pritchard noticed that Papuans infected with the Necator americanus hookworm, a parasite that lives in the human gut, did not suffer much from an assortment of autoimmune-related illnesses, including hay fever and asthma. Over the years, Dr. Pritchard has developed a theory to explain the phenomenon."
In order to get approval from Britain's National Health Services to test his theory on humans, Pritchard infected himself with hookworms. Now he's recruiting participants for a clinical trial to see if hookworm infection will help reduce asthma and allergy symptoms.
monochrom is an art-technology-philosophy group having its seat in Vienna and Zeta Draconis. monochrom is an unpeculiar mixture of proto-aesthetic fringe work, pop attitude, subcultural science, context hacking and political activism. Our mission is conducted everywhere, but first and foremost in culture-archeological digs into the seats (and pockets) of ideology and entertainment. monochrom has existed in this (and almost every other) form since 1993. [more]