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b'Imagine tapeworms longer than the height of an adult human. Or microbes that turn their hosts into zombies.\\xa0If the revulsion they induce doesn\\u2019t do it, the sheer number of parasites force us to pay attention. They are the most abundant form of animal life on Earth. Parasites can cause untold human suffering, like those that cause African River Blindness or Lyme disease, but their presence is also a sign of a health ecosystem. A parasitologist whose lab contains the largest parasite collection in the world gives us the ultimate inside story about these organisms.\\xa0\\nGuest:\\nScott Gardner - curator of parasites in the H.W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology at the University of Nebraska State Museum, one of the largest collections of parasites in the world, and professor of biological sciences at University of Nebraska. Co-author of\\xa0Parasites: The Inside Story.\\nFeaturing music by\\xa0Dewey Dellay\\xa0and\\xa0Jun Miyake\\nBig Picture Science is part of the\\xa0Airwave Media\\xa0podcast network.\\xa0Please contact\\xa0advertising@airwavemedia.com\\xa0to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.\\nYou can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on\\xa0Patreon. Thanks for your support!\\n\\xa0\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'