Imagine a parasite has infected you and that parasite needs you to have sex to move to a new host. It would certainly be in that parasite’s interest to help you become more physically attractive to a mate and act more promiscuously.

An extraordinary new study suggest that scenario may actually be playing out with one of the most common parasites in the world, Toxoplasma gondii (T.gondii), which potentially manipulates its human host’s appearance to be more sexually attractive.

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Javier Borráz-León, from the University of Turku, has long been amazed at the way parasites have been found to influence host behavior as a way of moving to a new host. T.gondii in particular has been subject to a large volume of prior study, with researchers finding the parasite can, for example, make an animal host attracted to the smell of urine from predator cats. This leads the host to engage in risky behavior, increasing the likelihood of it being eaten by a predator cat, thus allowing the parasite a way of reaching its optimal host.

Read more: New Atlas