• Question: Are any of your bugs deadly to humans and what are the major parts of a average bug

    Asked by aaronhampshaw to Duncan on 11 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Duncan Gaskin

      Duncan Gaskin answered on 11 Mar 2013:

      Yes and no! The bugs I work with can kill but only very very rarely. They usually make you ill (throwing up and the runs). This can kill you if you don’t drink enough fluid to replace the fluid lost, or if your body’s defences are not working properly. For most people this isn’t a problem, and your body’s defences eventually get rid of the bugs and you recover.

      A simple description of an average bug (if there was one) would be a bag of goo. The bag is called the cell wall and consists of several layers of stuff that protects the bug from the world around it. It has tiny holes in it to let food in and waste out, and may have long string like things attached to the ends called flagella. These allow the bug to swim through its environment by rotating a bit like a propeller. The goo inside has all the chemicals and things that allow the bug to grow. This includes the DNA that has all the instructions for how to make that bug and what it eats and does.

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