Two decades ago, ROODE JAAP He made a discovery that changed his scientific career. While investigating the ecology and evolution of the parasites and their hosts, he found something really surprising: the monarch butterflies he was studying seemed to be exploiting the medicinal properties of plants to treat themselves and their descendants.
At that time, the notion that an insect could be able to self -medicate seemed crazy. Now, De Roode is a world expert in the flourishing field of animal medicines, with his own laboratory at the University of Emory in Atlanta, Georgia. He spoke with New scientist About his work, his new book, Doctors by nature: how ants, apes and other animals heal themselvesand their belief that animals have medicinal knowledge that we can use to improve our own health.
The self -edifying behavior of the chimpanzees and wool caterpillars (below) has also been studied (below)
Michael a Huffman
Graham Lawton: How did this research area be launched unlikely?
Jaap de Roode: He began during the work in Tanzania in the 1980s with a casual observation. Michael Huffman from the University of Kyoto was working with Mohamedi Seifu Kalunde, a ranger of the national parks, to analyze the role of the elderly chimpanzees in society. While tracking one called Chausiku, they noticed that she was removed, she was taking a nap during the day and had diarrhea. They saw her go to a plant called Vernoniaalso known as bitter sheet. He removed the cortex and began sucking the medulla. This is normally not part of your diet. Seifu, who was also a traditional healer, told Huffman that he uses it as a …
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