Here at WCAIR we have a strong focus on combining art and science. We’re now excited to announce that our first co-commission with NEoN Festival is live and kicking on the web! Developed by artists Jen Southern and Rod Dillon, Parasiteseeing is a travel blog with a difference.
One of the key diseases we are targeting is Visceral Leishmaniasis. It causes horrendous suffering and is almost universally fatal untreated, while the current medicines are unpleasant and slow to work. It’s caused by the parasite Leishmania donovani, which is what we’re looking at here. We’ve imagined a travel blog that the parasite might write for itself.
What kind of journeys does a parasite take? Apparently, quite a few. Leishmania is an ancient, ancient form of life, and is found all over the world. Using genetic tools, we can now explore movement in pre-history and in more recent times, when humans have aided it. We also explore the journeys that Leishmania can take closer to home, following our very own parasites around the lab on our YouTube channel. There are Instagram and Twitter feeds, even following a medicine in its attempt to outfox the parasite.
Join us on Youtube to follow our out of body travels around the lab at the Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infectives Research in Dundee. We spend most of our time in cyro, biding our time before we can ride those crazy machines. Buckle up!
Prepare for boarding at gate 3 for adventures in the sand fly labs at Lancaster.
Hey! It’s Leah Leishmania here, travelling with my friends and family in the wild! See the sights, hear the sounds, and snuggle up for the journey of a lifespan.
@Elektra_Dominica on Instagram
Blogging for over 150 million years, stuck in a piece of amber. It’s slow going, but the views are great.
Ever wondered where you came from? This is our search for our ancestors and to find out why on earth we’re called LdBOB!
Ssssshh! Don’t tell anyone! I’m travelling undercover on this Leishmania website. Come with me and find out why.
Unleished blog @ https://para-site-seeing.org/unleished
Inspired by Dundee’s ‘two intrepid ladies’ we set out to travel around the world and through time in search of our fellow Leishmania.
Visceral Media is a group that follows how leishmaniasis is represented in news and video media. We seek out the stories that give us, Leishmania parasites, a bad name. If you find any stories out there share them with our admin Kala Azar.