At the start of this month, I have watched on French TV a movie
entitled "Smilla's sense of snow". This movie was obviously designed for
teenagers, and included all the components of the genus: complicated
story, murders, international conspiracy by a big mining company,
beautiful actress, dirty guys, and, of course, a nasty rotten scientist.
And what about parasitology ? Wait a bit....
The movie started with the probable murder of an Inuit children, who was
parasitisized by a "prehistoric worm" (sic), named "Dracunculus
borealis" (!). These worms were asleep into Greenland inlandsis, until a
giant meteorite goes through the ice and somewhat heats them.... And a
bit far in the movie, you could see appalling X-ray pictures of a giant
female worm into the thorax of an Inuit miner, along with a lot of small
larvae invading the whole body. Brrr....
Congrats to the brain-fevered unknown colleague who has given the
screenwriters of this movie some help!
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year !
(pour répondre, enlever PASDEPUB de mon adresse)
(delete PASDEPUB from my address before replying)
J-F. Magnaval, MD, DSc
Lab. Parasitologie, CHU Purpan
31059 Toulouse, France
