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Parasitologist

Studies parasites — organisms that live on or inside hosts — and how to control parasitic diseases.

Did you know?

In 2024 malaria, caused by a parasite spread by mosquitoes, led to about 282 million cases and 610,000 deaths worldwide.

How subjects help

Biology: Follow a parasite's life cycle, such as how malaria passes from mosquitoes to people.
Chemistry: Test medicines that kill worms or parasites without harming the person or animal.
Health Sciences: Plan ways to stop parasites spreading, like bed nets or clean drinking water.

A famous name

Ronald Ross: Found the malaria parasite inside a mosquito in 1897, showing how malaria spreads; Nobel Prize 1902.

Try it yourself: Blow up a balloon with yeast

Pour about 5 cm of warm tap water into each bottle and add a teaspoon of dried yeast to both.
Add one teaspoon of sugar to one bottle only, then swirl both gently.
Stretch a balloon over the neck of each bottle and stand them somewhere warm.
Check every 5 minutes for 20 minutes and note what the balloons are doing. Which bottle made more gas, and what does that tell you the yeast needs? (Leave them for an hour to see even more.)

Microbiologists grow microbes in different conditions and measure what they produce, which is how bakers, brewers and medicine makers learn to use yeast and bacteria.

Adapted from The Francis Crick Institute: Bring a balloon to life.

Also try: Make a mould fossil.

Known for it in

UK, USA, Australia, Switzerland, Kenya