How do leeches help modern medicine? | Biology - Infested! Living with Parasites

Suitable for teaching 11-14s. Presented by Dr Michael Mosley, this episode of the ‘Infested’ series features a surgeon who is pioneering the use of leeches in medical research. WARNING: Contains scenes some viewers may find disturbing. Subscribe for more Biology clips from BBC Teach on Mondays when we have them in: http://bit.ly/BBCSubscribeTeach If you found this video helpful, give it a like. Share it with someone. Add the video to your own teaching playlists. Create an account, subscribe to the channel and create playlists for different age groups, sets and syllabuses. ===================== Presented by Dr Michael Mosley, this episode of the ‘Infested’ series features a surgeon who is pioneering the use of leeches in medical research. Michael Mosley allows a leech to attach to his arm and suck his blood. The mouth of the leech is seen in close up. The leech multiplies its body mass by six or seven times and will now not need to feed for several months. The surgeon describes how leeches are used to release excess blood from parts of human bodies that have been reattached (eg a finger). He describes how leeches contain the most powerful anticoagulant known to man. This clip is from the BBC series Michael Mosley: Infested! Living with Parasites. In this version of the series made especially for schools, Dr Michael Mosley explores the bizarre and fascinating world of parasites by turning his body into a living laboratory and deliberately infesting himself with them. He travels to Kenya to give himself tapeworm - a parasite that can grow to many metres inside the human gut - and then swallows a pill-camera to reveal what's growing inside him. He also encounters lice, leeches and the deadly malaria parasite - within himself. By the end of his infestation, Michael learns a new-found respect for these extraordinary creatures, which can live off and even take control of their hosts for their own survival. For more clips from Michael Mosely: Infested! Living with Parasites: http://bit.ly/TeachInfested For our Biology playlist: http://bit.ly/BBCTeachBiology For Class Clips users, the original reference for the clip was p01w8phr. ===================== Teaching Biology? Students could investigate the relationship between humans and leeches in terms of the benefits or harm to each in relation to energy and nutrients. Groups could discuss how this relationship (And others) has been manipulated for use in medicine. This clip will be relevant for teaching Biology. This topic appears in OCR, Edexcel and AQA GCSE in England and Wales, and Higher in Scotland. ===================== For more clips from other subjects at the BBC Teach YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/bbcteach More from BBC Learning Zone: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone More resources from BBC Bitesize: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education ===================== Subscribe to create your own customised playlists, and get notified about our latest clips. As we have them, new videos will be uploaded on the following days: Mondays: Biology, Computer Science, Music, Religious Studies Tuesdays: Drama and Performance, English Language, Maths, Physical Education Wednesdays: Languages, Media Studies, Modern Studies and PSHE, Physics Thursdays: Art and Design, Chemistry, Geography, History Fridays: Business Studies, Design and Technology, English Literature, Early Years