Gut reaction

Hookworms are parasites. But could they also be a revolutionary medical treatment?

In a bright modern office in the University of Nottingham’s complex of bright and modern buildings, Dr David Pritchard has fallen silent and is sitting staring at his hands. It’s been a few minutes since he stopped talking. In the first 30 seconds I sent off a string of little vacuous questions that hung in the air like soap bubbles, then popped for want of response. Now I’m sitting silent too, also looking at his hands, considering – as perhaps is he – how much may be within their reach. Dr Pritchard might have at his fingertips a miracle cure for some of the West’s most distressing and debilitating diseases: Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as severe allergies like asthma, hay fever and the peanut/cat/dust mite allergies that can make a life miserable. But the curious thing about Pritchard’s cure is that it might equally come to nothing.