MYO Salad

The leafy greens in this image are muscle cells, which form when individual cells fuse together. Blue specks surrounding the green structures are the unfused early versions of the cells.
PhD researcher Amber infects these muscle cells with Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, to study the conditions that lead to long-term infection.
Almost one-third of the global population is chronically infected with this parasite. While most healthy people don’t get sick, it can be highly dangerous for pregnant women and people with weak immune systems.
Following infection, a small number of parasites can remain in certain parts of the body, including muscle tissue. These dormant infections persist for life and can reactivate in an immunosuppressed person, putting them at risk of serious disease.
Artist
- Amber Simonpietri