toxoplasma

[ tok-suh-plaz-muh ]

noun

, plural tox·o·plas·ma·ta [tok-s, uh, -, plaz, -m, uh, -t, uh], tox·o·plas·mas.

1. any protist of the genus Toxoplasma, especially T. gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis.

Other Words From

• toxo·plasmic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of toxoplasma¹

< New Latin Toxoplasma (1909); toxo-, plasma

Example Sentences

When he was called out for it, Musk sent another tweet sneering, "Toxoplasma gondii is a danger to our democracy," a reference to the debunked myth that cat owners have a mentally destabilizing parasite.

From Salon

Musk inferred that voters like Swift are suffering the effects of toxoplasma gondii, a single-celled parasite that is carried by cats.

From Salon

The virus is associated with severe inflammation in humans infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, leading the team to hypothesize that it exacerbates toxoplasmosis disease.

From Science Daily

Elias Ruiz-Morales, co-first author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "We discovered that placental immune cells called macrophages can protect the placenta against infections. This is the first time that placental immune cells have been shown to play a defensive role in early-stage pregnancy in humans, and that these immune cells can be hijacked by toxoplasma during infection. Understanding more about how the placental immune system works can help give new insights into pregnancy complications."

From Science Daily

"Using the parasite Toxoplasma as our representative pathogen, our work shows that some intracellular pathogens can apply physical forces during their entry into host cells, which then allow the pathogens to evade degradation and to survive intracellularly," said study lead author Yan Yu, professor in the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Chemistry at IU Bloomington.

From Science Daily