Jaap de Roode

Manipulation of host-plant preference by virus-induced changes to its insect vector’s olfactory system Ai et al. describe a regulatory mechanism by which viruses shift the host preference of insect vectors by suppressing immune signaling and manipulating their interaction with the peripheral olfactory ...

In the same issue of @currentbiology.bsky.social: a plant virus vectored by a leaf hopper produces a protein that interferes with the insect's Toll signaling pathway. This alters the olfactory system and makes the hopper prefer to feed on uninfected rice plants.

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Fungal pathogen promotes caterpillar feeding and weight gain using a host-like trehalase Zhao et al. report that Cordyceps militaris fungi induce feeding and weight gain in silkworm larvae using an insect-like trehalase. Fungal infection induces a sharp drop in insect blood sugars and the...

Good week for our understanding of manipulative parasites. A fungal pathogen of silk moths produces a host-like trehalose gene that reduces trehalose in the caterpillar's hemolymph. The larva perceives starvation, and fattens up to provide more resources for the fungus.

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Rubber arm illusion in octopus The feeling of a body as belonging to oneself is called the sense of body ownership and the centerpiece of conscious experience. Kawashima and Ikeda investigated the sense of body ownership in an octo...

Wow, this new study used a form of the "rubber hand illusion" to show that an octopus experiences body ownership of its own arms. Body ownership is an important feature of self-consciousness, and had previously only been demonstrated in mammals. 🧪

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Another summer; another wonderful undergraduate research project. Congratulations to Marlyne Gonzalez for a fascinating project and beautiful poster. Monarch caterpillars sometimes hardly have any gut microbes! Supported by the INSPIRE program at Emory University and @emorycollege.bsky.social 🧪

Animals Are the Original Wellness Influencers Long before TikTok and probiotics, animals were teaching each other tips on feeling better, from swallowing leaves to get rid of parasites to using icebergs for exfoliation.

@jaapderoode.bsky.social (author of Doctors by Nature, available now) spoke with @wired.com about the original wellness influencers: animals. Check it out:

It was great talking to @cjgiaimo.bsky.social for @wired.com about how animals use medicine on a sketchy phone connection on a moving rain in Germany :-). Bears, caterpillars, ants, and many other animals are health experts, as described in my @princetonupress.bsky.social book #doctorsbynature. 🧪

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Seattle Friends: I will be at Ada's Technical Books & Cafe on Friday July 25th to talk about how animals use medicine, and what we can learn from them. 🧪 @princetonupress.bsky.social

adasbooks.com/event/2025-0...

'Van vlinders tot vogels, van apen tot insecten: het dierenrijk zit vol met slimme strategieen om ziekten te voorkomen of te bestrijden.’ @jaapderoode.bsky.social

Marloes Stemerdink @newscientistnl.bsky.social @knnvuitgeverij.bsky.social
www.newscientist.nl/recensie/dok...

Dokters van nature: over dierlijke dierenartsen In Dokters van nature neemt Jaap de Roode de lezer mee in de fascinerende wereld van dierenmedicatie.

Very grateful for this wonderful review of my @knnvuitgeverij.bsky.social and @princetonupress.bsky.social book on animal medication in @newscientistnl.bsky.social

www.newscientist.nl/recensie/dok...

Manufacture and use of allogrooming tools by wild killer whales Michael Weiss and colleagues report on wild orcas using kelp as a tool for social grooming.

Very interesting observations on orcas "kelping" each other. They manipulate the kelp and groom each other with it, perhaps for skin maintenance. Most work on tools, allogrooming and culture focuses on terrestrial animals. So cool to see this study on a marine mammal! 🧪

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Doctors By Nature: How Ants, Apes, & Other Animals Heal Themselves Science on Tap is a science lecture series where you can sit back, enjoy a pint, and laugh while you learn. Listen to experts talk about the science in your neighborhood and around the world. You don’...

Portland friends: I will be giving a #scienceontap public lecture on my book Doctors by Nature at the Alberta Rose Theatre on July 23rd. Beer, books and science! Good combo. 🧪 @princetonupress.bsky.social

www.scienceontaporwa.org/events/alber...

The role of a non-native host plant in altering the seasonal dynamics of Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) development Abstract. Insect herbivores often experience seasonal fluctuation in food availability, which plays important role in signaling diapause and/or migration.

Work from our lab shows that non-native milkweed can allow monarch development into the winter, creating butterflies during a season where they can no longer migrate or breed. If you want to help monarchs, plant native milkweed only. 🧪 #plant-insect #nativeplants

academic.oup.com/jinsectscien...

Wonderful and inspiring talk! Learned so much about how ants evolved to adapt to plant life in subsequent steps.

Thank you!

If you were at #evol2025, *this* is why every conversation you found yourself in had someone from LSU! We roll deep.

Join us in Baton Rouge in January for the @systbiol.bsky.social breakout meeting! Equally good science conversation, just add gumbo and king cake.

Very exciting to present this idea at #Evol2025. The toxins and pigments of aposematic animals often act against infections, providing animals with individual fitness benefits.

Great get-together with @princetonupress.bsky.social at #Evol2025 to discuss the process of writing a science book. Check out the booth in the Grand Hall to learn more. You can also enter a raffle to win a copy of my book.

Fantastic talk by Jason Chen at #Evol2025 Stochasticity can override selection in symbiont assembly. Great analogy: drift is like the wind that moves arrows from their selective target. Amazing pictures!

Very grateful to Becca Safran and @currentbiology.bsky.social for this great review of my @princetonupress.bsky.social book!

The goal of the museum is to show how close humans and other animals are and that we really are part of nature. This theme aligns so closely with my book, which shows that animals are experts in the use of medicine, and that humans have often learned from other animals how to heal themselves.

What an amazing opportunity to give a public lecture on my @knnvuitgeverij.bsky.social book Dokters van Nature at the beautiful Groote Museum at the Artis zoo in Amsterdam.

How Do You Start a Garden? Podcast Episode · Ask Me! · 05/27/2025 · 22m

One of my favorite podcasts I have done. In Ask Me!, third grade students from Morningside Elementary in Atlanta interviewed Erik Edwards and me about how start a pollinator garden. Understand the world through the eyes of the next generation!

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Wegens succes extra publiekscollege prof. Jaap de Roode woe 4 juni 2025 in Wageningen Wegens succes organiseren we een extra publiekscollege op woensdag 4 juni 2025 in Wageningen (het college in Amsterdam op 5 juni is vol!) Op die avond geeft prof. dr. Jaap de Roode een lezing over zij

Vrienden, familie en collega’s in Nederland: op 4 juni geef ik een boeklezing over mijn nieuwe KNNV Uitgeverij boek Dokters van Nature. Gratis toegankelijk; aanmelden kan via de link. 🧪

knnvuitgeverij.nl/nieuws/wegen...

Reminder: tomorrow!

Pharmacological and behavioral investigation of putative self-medicative plants in Budongo chimpanzee diets Wild chimpanzees consume a variety of plants to meet their dietary needs and maintain wellbeing. While some plants have obvious value, others are nutritionally poor and/or contain bioactive toxins whi...

NEW PAPER OUT🙉🦠🌱! In our new study in PLOSONE, we combined behavioral observations with pharmacological testing to highlight several plant species as suspect medicinal resources for the wild chimpanzees of the Budongo Forest.

doi.org/10.1371/jour...
More below:

Studies have also shown how bees and ants prevent infections of other individuals by incorporating antimicrobial resin into their nests. So cool to see increasing evidence of animal medication.

This study adds to earlier studies that show that chimpanzees sometimes mix their saliva with insects to treat wounds, and that orangutans sometimes chew leaves to make a leaf-saliva mixture to treat injuries.

Frontiers | Self-directed and prosocial wound care, snare removal, and hygiene behaviors amongst the Budongo chimpanzees Understanding the cognitive and social foundations of healthcare behaviors in humans requires examining their evolutionary precursors in our closest living r...

A long-term study on chimpanzees in Budongo Forest in Uganda by @elodiefreymann.bsky.social and colleagues reveals that these animals use many different ways to treat their own wounds and those of others. 🧪

www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...