I have been asked a fundamental question about taxonomy studies. He said that it is without question that parasite information is important for medical studies or biotechnology. But what is the importance of studying non-human parasite that only serve in taxonomy studies which such feature of the parasite still unknown?
I am researching Dicyemid, a parasite that resides in chepalopods renal sac.
Can anyone give an insight to this question?
Dear Yusrifar,
In my opinion, your question is: why the taxonomy is important, regardless of the study group? The attached link is very interesting. Anyway, the taxonomic study of non-human parasites is of critical importance to better understand aspects related to biodiversity, evolution and especially conservation of species. Especially in your case, the study of Dicyemida may provide a basis for better understanding of Mezosoan and maybe the origin of Metazoa. Key questions still persist as: are they protozoans, metazoans or an intermediate forms? The basic knowledge of diversity and distribution of the group is a starting point to answer many questions.
http://blog.cifor.org/8746/why-taxonomy-is-important-for-biodiversity-based-science#.VYP3qPm4QsY
The worldwide loss of expertise in parasite (whether human or non-human) taxonomy and classical (i.e. morphological, as opposed to molecular) systematics has been identified as one of the greatest challenges for research in parasite biodiversity, ecology and epidemiology.
For further details you can refer to the following link:-
http://www.otago.ac.nz/parasitegroup/PDF%20papers/PoulinLeung2010-Para.pdf
This the one of the fundamental questions asked to scientists, which is boiled down to “Why study something if I can’t get money from it or improve human health.” In part this is a question related to the study of anything in the universe. I would personally say that in some cases the actual value is in gaining knowledge of the world we live in. That is it, there is no more. However, in the broad scope of things if we never asked basic questions about anything we would never have progressed beyond living in caves. Perhaps the answer is that it makes you happy to learn about these parasites and so do other people. If they did not gain some sort of enjoyment and fulfillment from it the science would be dead.
Thank you for your answer Dr. Hudson
Very enlightening, yes that would be a good point to answer this basic question. The basis of this studies may become the key to the more elaborate studies as you mentioned above. thank you again for your insight.
Thank you Mr. Sandip
The paper is exactly pointed out what i am lacking in understanding the basis of taxonomy. Thank you very much
Thank you for your opinion Dr. Will
It is an interesting point of view. while indeed it is right dan simple, my supervisor probably won't satisfied with it. But yes i agree, it is just natural to explore what we want to explore as long it can satisfy our need of knowledge no matter how much impact it has
I've also appreciated the esthetic value of taxonomy and systematics. Understanding diversity, "knowing what is out there", examining evolutionary pathways, questioning basic identity and other aspects enrich our knowledge base. They also lead to a more profound knowledge of ecology, organismal relationships (host-symbiont relationships and associations), and much more. I also like they dicyemids, but I've never really delved into them.
Yusrifar,
You've already received some great answers, but I'll add a little. First, it is very important to continue identifying and cataloging the world's biota for many reasons, as all are ultimately important to environmental health. In your particular case, knowing more about mesozoans is especially important as they occupy such an important place in animal phylogeny and are distinctive in such attributes as their developmental and reproductive biology. The hosts, cephalopods, are important in most marine environments, and have considerable commercial value, including the wide use of calamari for food. So anything that affects their health is important. On the bigger question of whether it is important medically to study parasites of animals other than humans, I will point out the up to 70% of pathogens known to sicken or kill humans are zoonotic -- shared with other animals. So we cannot know much about human infectious diseases, including parasitic diseases, without knowing about those of the other animals with which we share them, or might share them anew in the future. This is the basis for the growing field of One Health Science, which integrates work on human, animal, and environmental health.
Best wishes in your work.
Bruce
Thank you for your answer Dr, Jeffrey
I will keep that in mind.
Thank you very much Dr. Bruce!
I believe this is even more specific answer. Yes, maybe i could relate to cephalopods merits itself. And wow, thank you for pointing out about zoonotic pathogen. I will never realize that without your answer. Thank you again Dr. Bruce.
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