Researchers at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, staged a small proof-of-principle experiment, aimed at determining whether exposure to parasites, via insect bites, could vaccinate humans against malaria.

Knowing that humans can develop an immunity to malaria after repeated exposures and that the drug chloroquine kills malaria parasites in the late stages of infection, the researchers divided 15 subjects into two groups. They exposed the first group, periodically, to parasite-bearing mosquitoes and treated them with chloroquine. The second group, the researchers also treated with chloroquine, but didn't expose to the mosquitoes. All the volunteers stopped taking chloroquine and were later exposed to parasite-carrying mosquitoes. No members of the group previously exposed to malaria developed the disease; each member of the comparison group did.

Although it's a far cry from delivering an actual vaccine via insect — and seems more a call for widerspread distribution of antimalarial drugs — it does present the possibility that insects could someday be used to immunize populations against disease. With respect to pandemics like malaria, such a mechanism could be a lifesaver, but it also presents a profound ethical dilemma. The subjects in this test gave their consent to be infected, persons living among vaccine-carrying critters wouldn't have the same luxury.

Mosquitoes deliver malaria 'vaccine' through bites [AP via Slashdot]

The Strain began life as a television pitch, but when Guillermo del Toro delivered his idea for a realistic story of vampire pandemic, complete with long, complex character arcs and anal parasites, Fox execs wanted a show that was more Buffy than an undead version of The Wire. When they asked him to turn his idea into a comedy, del Toro teamed up with author Chuck Hogan to rework The Strain as a trilogy of novels.

But now, a The Strain television series is back on the table. Variety reports that Grady Twins Productions, a production company started by Marti Noxon and Dawn Parouse Olmstead, is working with del Toro and Hogan to develop a three season series, which they plan to shop early next year.

It's perhaps ironic, given that Noxon was a writer and executive producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was the sort of vampire dramedy Fox likely had in mind, not to mention a show we ourselves have accused of defanging the vampire genre. But Noxon, whose writing and production credits include the slow-burning Mad Men, is certainly no stranger to smart writing and gradually developing character arcs, and can hopefully deliver the over-the-top mania and horror del Toro's work demands.

[Variety]

Wait It Out

Animorphs: The Yeerks travel throughout the universe, enslaving various species, and are currently working on their conquest of Earth. The slug-like creatures take control of their hosts by crawling in through the ear canal, but can only stay inside for three days at a time, after which they need to leave to absorb the rays from their home sun. They can put off the ray bath by having their host consume instant maple and ginger oatmeal, but too much of the stuff will drive the Yeerks insane.

“The Shadow Out of Time” by HP Lovecraft: The Yithians are not physical parasites, but can take control of another being’s body by swapping minds with their victims. They then control their victims’ bodies, learning all they can. Once they’ve gotten the information they want, Yithians generally let their victims have their bodies back. But, on at least one occasion, the Yithians have held onto another race’s bodies indefinitely.

Conquer it with Willpower

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: Ceti eels are not themselves sentient, but nasty little critters will burrow inside its host’s brain, making it extremely susceptible to suggestion. After Khan plants a Ceti eel in Commander Chekov’s ear, Chekov resists Khan’s influence and collapses, causing the eel to slip back out of his ear. It’s not a foolproof method, though; fellow eel infectee Clark Terrell also resists Khan’s order to assassinate Kirk, but ends up shooting himself instead.

Dehydrate It

The Faculty: The faculty of Herrington High School are controlled by yet another breed of ear canal-seeking parasite, giving them the single-minded purpose of spreading the parasites to the entire student body. Fortunately, one of the students keeps around a stash of his homemade recreational drug, which happens to be a diuretic. One shot of that stuff dries up the parasites and probably leaves the victims high enough to write off the whole ordeal as a fever dream.

Angel “The Price”: A swarm of thirsty silicone slugs are the price some pay for using dark magic. The best way to de-worm an infected host is to dehydrate them, which can be achieved by consuming copious amounts of booze. But the slugs assume a limit control over the host’s body, prompting them to drink water until the slugs drain them completely dry.

Build Up Your Post-Infection Immunity

The X-Files: Purity, the fearsome Black Oil that appears throughout the series, is absorbed by humans on contact. The human host becomes a slave to the alien Black Oil, spreading the virus to others and helping the extraterrestrial colonists reproduce. There is a vaccine, albeit a weak one, which has, in some cases, reversed the infection.

Doctor Who “The Invisible Enemy”: After encountering the Swarm, an intelligent virus that controls the infected, the Doctor is repeatedly infected, although thanks to his Time Lord constitution, he is able to overcome his infections. But his companion Leela is entirely immune to the Swarm. When the Doctor finally succumbs to infection, a miniaturized Leela clone enters the Doctor’s body, giving the Doctor her immunity as they force the virus out of his body.

Remove It By Force

Stargate SG-1: The snaky Goa’uld burrow into their host’s brain, accessing its memories and taking control of its body. Removing a Goa’uld symbiote is tricky since it will poison its host if it senses its life is in danger. But a handful of species have developed methods of separating the symbiotes from their hosts.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer: The alien Souls are surgically inserted inside the bodies of other species, possessing individuals so that they can quietly conquer the planet and turn it into a peaceful, carefully controlled paradise. And a person with the correct knowledge can remove the alien in the same manner.

Lexx “Eating Pattern” and “Bad Carrot”: Lexx features a pair of mind-controlling parasites. The snake-like creature in “Eating Pattern” turns Stan into a cannibal and has to be forcibly extracted from his neck. The carrot-shaped drone in “Bad Carrot” enters through the rectum and must be expelled the same way.

Marvel Symbiotes: The alien symbiotes of the Marvel Universe offer their hosts incredible powers, but they merge not only with the host’s physical being, but with their personality as well. But the symbiotes generally have a weakness to heat, sound, or electricity, which can force them to separate from the host.

Infect the Infection

The Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein: The inspiration for many later mind control parasites, the alien slugs of The Puppet Masters attach themselves to the backs of their hosts, bring the hosts under the aliens’ control. The slugs can be physically detached, but that is not sufficient to control the epidemic. Instead, the resisting humans infect the population with a disease that is fatal to the slugs, treating the humans once their slug masters die.

Defeat It with Alien Superpowers

Ben 10: Alien Force “Max Out”: Ben’s cousin has the misfortune of being attached to a Xenocyte, an alien leech that not only exerts mind control, but also transforms its human host into a DNAlien. But the Omnitrix, the alien device that gives Ben his powers, has a genetic repair function that reverses the melding.

New X-Men “Here Comes Tomorrow”: The sentient bacteria Sublime can also take possession of human bodies and, as John Sublime, has quietly worked behind the scenes in mutant research and living weapons development. In an alternate future, Jean Grey, using the alien Phoenix Force, destroys Sublime once and for all.

Kill the Parasite’s Master

Babylon 5: Keepers, the genetically engineered parasites used by the Drakh to control their victims, cannot be surgically removed and are only sedated by alcohol. But killing the Drakh that spawned the keeper will destroy the parasite without harming the host.

In The Faculty the infection also ends with the destruction of the alien queen, and in the Doctor Who episode “The Invisible Enemy,” killing the disease’s nucleus puts an end to the disease.

Once It’s Off, Switch to a Garlic Shampoo

Futurama: An important step in any brain parasite removal is preventing another infection. Switching to a garlic shampoo deters reattachment, as does wearing a helmet. Just be sure that your friends don’t mistake your fallen brain slug for an unusual hat, or you could be reinfected before you get a chance to wash your hair.

Mister Fear (Marvel): We may as well start with the man who's got fear in his name. Mister Fear used a powerful pheromone to terrify and influence people, a tool that came in handy when facing down the Man with No Fear: Daredevil.

The Space Creature (Lost in Space): The Space Creature lives on a distant planet, noshing on whatever specks of fear it can find. When the Jupiter 2 appears in the planet's orbit, carrying a young boy, the creature thinks it's hit the terror jackpot. When causing the other crew members to disappear fails to phase the brave young lad, creature drives the sinister Dr. Smith insane, driving him to try and murder young Will Robinson.

The Mara (Doctor Who): If you don't already fear snakes, the Mara is eager to help you cultivate your phobia. An evil force created from the minds of the Manussans, Mara feeds off of fear, sparking paranoid delusions in its victims.

Lord Dread (Southern Knights): Lord Dread stared down the Southern Knights, Archie Comics' Atlanta-based super team, with his terror-inducing gaze. Unfortunately, his mutant power failed to work on Mark Dagon, the team's dragon member.

Scarecrow (Batman): Although Dr. Jonathan Crane shares a surname and likeness with Washington Irving's tremulous Ichabod, he was more interested in doling out fear than feeling it. He wasn't the first to employ a fear-causing substance (Hugo Strange and Mister Fear beat him to that punch), but the mask-wearing Scarecrow does manage to spook Batman himself on a few occasions.

Scarecrow (Marvel): Marvel's own Scarecrow, Ebenezer Laughton, doesn't need fear toxin to send foes into a panic. His adrenal gland secretes a similar substance, and the fear of those around his fuels his super strength.

The Tingler: In the 1959 horror film, Vincent Price discovers that the tingling feeling you get down your back is, in fact, a parasite that feeds off your fear. And you better scream when you feel it, or else the parasite will kill you. Add the pathologist's tragically mute wife and theater seats rigged with vibrators for when the critter escapes, and you have the ingredients for a very creepifying movie viewing experience. (Thanks to Annalee for suggesting this one.)

Fear Lords (Marvel): The demonic Fear Lords sit in the Halls of Fear dimension, where they sit around their Fear Table, scheming on how to use their Fear Powers to bring the world into the Great Fear. They aim to be the scariest bastards in the block, but Daredevil and Dr. Strange keep getting in the way.

Mongor (Thundercats): On the faraway planet of Third Earth the primordial beast Mongor is awakened by the Thunderkittens and prepares to dismantle the planet. Your fear makes him more powerful, but it only works if you're looking right at him. Of course, he's a gant purple goat-thing, so it's kind of hard to look away.

Dr. Martin Davis (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea): Davis is an expert in psychological stress who, in one episode, climbs aboard the futuristic nuclear submarine Seaview, ostensibly to observe the crew. But his true motives have something to do with a canister of fear gas he's released inside the sub.

Nekron (JLA): Not to be confused with the similarly-named Lord of the Unliving, this Nekron is a purple-skinned alien who comes to our dimension to indulge in our fear of death, a an emotion that gets this fellow high. So he happily flits through the universe, sowing chaos and snorting terror off our screaming heads.

The Fearmonger (Doctor Who): Another resident of the Whoniverse, the Fearmonger also feeds on fear. But rather than frighten humans with a direct attack, the Fearmonger plants the seeds of distrust among them, latching onto a bigoted politician and setting forth an agenda for ethnic cleansing.

Phobos (Secret Warriors): One of the few non-villainous types to wield the power of fear, Phobos is one of Nick Fury's Secret Warriors. He's also the son of Ares, and can evoke terror with a single look.

Benjamin “Knox” Washington (Heroes): Knox is another superstrong hero, but only when the folks around him are afraid. And when Elle accidentally frees him from Level Five, he's aching to cause a little fear.

The Beast With a Million Eyes: In the midst of the Cold War, an alien who lives on hate and fear arrives on Earth, hungrily eying the ripe human masses. He telepathically takes control of the animals and weaker willed humans of the world, turning them against the rest of mankind and inducing a state of B-movie panic.

Parallax (Green Lantern): The alien Parallax is the living embodiment of fear, and he manages to free himself from his prison inside the Central Power Battery by stroking Hal Jordan's sense of fear and self-doubt. Out and about in the world and bound to Hal Jordan, its fear is powerful enough to bring down Superman.

Odd Bob the Clown (The Sarah Jane Adventures): Much like Dateline, Elijah Spellman knows that the best way to exploit parents' fears is to threaten their children. That's why the alien's been snatching children for centuries, first as the Pied Piper and more recently as a circus clown. And the fear eater gets a double dose of sustenance when he encounters the coulrophobic Sarah Jane.

Redjac (Star Trek): The non-corporeal parasite Redjac also needs fear and pain to survive, but must possess a non-corporeal host to achieve it. Deciding that being a serial killing provided better nourishment than playing a clown at kids' parties, it inhabited humanoids across the Alpha Quadrant, notably one Jack the Ripper.

Pennywise the Dancing Clown (It): If Redjac had seen Stephen King's It, he might have rethought that whole serial killer angle. It devours humans, but finds them more delicious when they're soaked in their own terror. And It knows that children have the gooeyist, sweetest, most succulent terror, made even more delish by approaching them as a malevolent sharp-toothed clown.

You play through the game as weaponless systems engineer Isaac Clarke aboard the USG Ishimura, and not only to you have to survive the onslaught of demon hordes out in space, but you also have to seal up their doorway so they can't get back out. All in a day's work. It seems like spacefaring folks don't ever have things go that well. Just ask anyone in the Doom universe. However, we sure wouldn't mind having a Planetcracker to fly around.