PARASITES: BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL

Parasites: Battle for Survival opened at National Museums Scotland in December. The exhibition highlights contemporary Scottish research around five tropical parasitic diseases: malaria, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness and Guinea worm disease. These diseases affect one in eighteen people across the globe and thrive in rural, poor areas.

Scotland is a centre for excellence in tropical parasitology and Parasites draws on over a century of Scottish parasitology research. While the exhibition highlights contemporary research going on here in Scotland to combat these diseases, the history of Scottish scientists working in the field of parasitology goes back to the late 19th century.

Scottish scientists working across the globe discovered three of the diseases covered in the exhibition. Ronald Ross, William Leishman and David and Mary Bruce were all pivotal in identifying the diseases. Others made massive contributions to the field. This legacy continues today at the universities of Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

LADY BRUCE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN HER HUSBAND’S DISCOVERIES, WORKING IN THE LAB AND PRODUCING SCIENTIFIC