Purely academic research can lead to very useful discoveries.
I could have written this article (Horsehair Snakes) in the ‘Marine Biology – Marine Life’ section since the 5 Nematonectid species are parasites of crabs and shrimps, but I chose ‘Fish and Insects – Other Invertebrates’ because the majority of the Nematomorha have adults that live and reproduce in water and larvae that parasitise land or freshwater arthropods. None of the phylum have been much studied and little is known about the biology of most species, but this might change now that it has been discovered that they are able to produce chemicals capable of altering arthropod behaviour (watch YouTube Video).
Vector Behaviour
It is known that many parasites have evolved ways to control the behaviour of their host – to manipulate it to their own advantage – and now that research has shown how this control works in the case of the Horsehair Worms there will be attempts to find out how vectors of human diseases (such as Mosquitoes for Malaria and Kissing Bugs for Chaga’s Disease) are manipulated. This could turn out to be very important.
Controlling Insects
In the future it might even be possible to produce chemicals that are capable of altering the behaviour of pest insects – persuading them to avoid crop plants for example!
Academic Research
I think that this is a very good example of a situation where purely (useless?) academic research unexpectedly throws up something very useful. It provides an excellent argument for the funding of research projects that do not seem to have any immediate benefit and are purely ‘for interest’.
