Public enemy No 1 or your new best friend? An exhibition and series of public lectures exploring the fascintating relationships between people and the parasites that live inside us. (360G-Wellcome-079906_Z_06_Z)

Public enemy No. 1 or your new best friend? An exhibition and series of public lectures exploring the fascinating relationships between people and the parasites that live inside us The main objective of this project is to communicate the fascinating relationships between people and their parasites. The development of accessible exhibits, utilising large scale portable pop-up display structures, along with a series of public lectures will illustrate and discuss different consequences of our various interactions with parasites. Our encounters with parasites can sometimes be very dangerous resulting in life-threatening diseases such as malaria which is still responsible for the deaths of over 2000 African children every day. Alternatively, recent research in understanding how parasitic worms can manipulate our immune systems may offer new solutions in the treatment of diseases such as asthma, diabetes or Crohn's disease. The discovery of the cause of many important parasitic diseases owes much to pioneering Scottish scientists and explorers; their inspirational stories will be illustrated using a series of banner sized posters, along with graphic descriptions of the problems caused by several key parasites to this day. The project aims to engage and inform the public by presenting a historical perspective alongside new advances in biomedical research in an entertaining and accessible manner which will be aimed at the non-expert and hopefully will appeal to older children and adults. The public lectures will offer an opportunity for members of the public and scientists to engage in discussion and debate. It is planned to launch the project in Glasgow to coincide with the 11th International Congress of Parasitology, August 2006 and thereafter to take the exhibition and organise public lectures at other venues initially in Scotland and then to other locations in the UK.