Shelf of curiosities: Dr Sharma with part of UPM’s national parasite reference collection. Jars of parasites dating back to the 1970s are stored at the building’s parasitology lab. Current research focuses on P. knowlesi, a type of simian malaria shown to be an emerging zoonotic disease.
A deadly malarial strain has made the leap from monkeys to humans, and Malaysia is at the forefront of the research.
A SHELVING unit running across the length of a wall draws curious stares to its collection of bottled curiosities: a pickled cow hoof, floating specimens of parasitic helminths, tangles of worm-like ascaris, muscle tissue dotted with sarcocystis, and at the far right corner, a collection of Anopheles mosquitoes suspended in a clear viscous substance.
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