Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Why You May Be More Likely to Start a Business If You Own a Cat

Why You May Be More Likely to Start a Business If You Own a Cat
ISTANBUL, TURKEY - AUGUST 4: A cat standing on a shelf at the "Lucky Cat House" pet hotel with rehabilitation center in Istanbul, Turkey on August 04, 2018. (Photo by Elif Ozturk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Um...

Wannabe business owners, take heed: new research shows “the entrepreneurial spirit” may be a load of poop — literally.

A team of scientists led by a professor from the University of Colorado Boulder has found an association between entrepreneurship and infection by toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan parasite found in cat feces.


Many first hear of toxoplasma gondii and its associated infection, toxoplasmosis, from warnings that pregnant women should stay away from cleaning cat boxes. The parasite is known to cause miscarriages and birth defects, and can pass from mother to baby. For those with healthy immune systems, infection with toxoplasma gondii goes largely unnoticed, with either no or mild symptoms. In fact, in the U.S., approximately 11 percent of people older than age 6 have been infected at some point, and in other parts of the world, the infection rate is closer to 95 percent.

Toxoplasma’s mode of infection is to infiltrate the brain. In mice, this causes a lack of fear — specifically of cats, which allows the felines to more easily catch and eat the infected, unafraid mice, thereby ensuring the parasite’s reproduction.

In people, toxoplasmosis has been associated with an increased risk of “car accidents, mental illness, neuroticism, drug abuse and suicide,” the research team wrote in its study, published in late July in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a biological-sciences journal. The team couldn’t help but wonder, then, if the same mechanism that toxoplasma worked on mice’s brains — that is, to make them risk-seekers — would work on people. Lead researcher Stefanie Johnson, an associate professor of management, collaborated with her husband, a biology professor, to test their theory on students.

First, they collected saliva from 1,495 individuals, finding that those who tested positive for T. gondii were “1.4 times more likely to major in business and 1.7 times more likely to have an emphasis in ‘management and entrepreneurship’ over other business-related emphases,” the researchers wrote in their report.

Second, they tested 197 people attending “entrepreneurship events.” Those who tested positive for T. gondii were “1.8 times more likely to have started their own business compared with other attendees.”

Third, the group analyzed infection disease databases and the global entrepreneurship data, finding that countries with higher T. gondii infection rates indeed had higher levels of entrepreneurship activity.

“Economics research has historically emphasized the importance of rationality in explaining human decisions, with individuals considering benefits and risks before acting in their self-interest,” the scientists wrote. “T. gondii exposure, however, might nudge individuals toward higher risk, higher reward activities and deviating from economic theory.”

Just how T. gondii reduces fear of risk is not known, but it’s thought to have something to do with neurotransmitters or perhaps even hormones like testosterone. In any case, the thought that a protozoan parasite could be inside a person’s brain, controlling his or her thoughts, isn’t necessarily welcome, even if it could mean owning one’s own business.

“As humans, we like to think that we are in control of our actions,” study lead co-author Pieter Johnson, Stefanie Johnson’s husband, said in a University of Colorado Boulder press release. “But emerging research shows that the microorganisms we encounter in our daily lives have the potential to influence their hosts in significant ways.”

More from News

Screenshots of Will Thilly breakdancing
New York Post/YouTube

Guy Breakdances His Way Into Town Hall Meeting To Ask Why Taxes Went Up—And Becomes An Instant Legend

Cranford, New Jersey town council candidate Will Thilly went viral after dancing his way up to the podium at a recent town hall meeting to ask why property taxes in Cranford have gone "up so much."

Thilly's unique tax protest began when he danced his way up to the podium and continued to dance even after a Cranford Township official said, "Mr. Thilly, I started your time." People laughed when Thilly held up a finger to stop the official and continued to dance anyway.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Brian Kilmeade
Fox News

Fox News Host Apologizes After His Suggestion That Homeless People Be Euthanized Sparks Outrage

Fox and Friends host Brian Kilmeade was criticized for suggesting that homeless people with mental health issues get "involuntary lethal injection" after the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a train in North Carolina—and was swiftly condemned for an insincere apology several days after the fact as many are calling for Fox News to terminate his contract.

Zarutska was stabbed to death at the East/West Boulevard station on the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte last month; her killer, a homeless man with a history of mental health issues, has since been charged with first-degree murder.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sofía Vergara
Bryan Steffy/Getty Images

Sofía Vergara Reveals She Missed Presenting At The Emmys Due To 'Craziest' Medical Emergency

Almost everyone has a favorite television show they like to turn on at the end of a rough day or binge-watch for a bit of nostalgia, and most of us pretty frequently check out new shows to see if we can spot a favorite.

Needless to say, the Emmys award show is a huge deal every year, honoring all of the people involved in the projects that are currently gracing the small screen, and basically anyone who's anyone will attend.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rep. Nancy Mace
CNN

Nancy Mace Just Tried To Claim She's Never 'Dehumanized' Her Colleagues—And The Internet Brought The Receipts

South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace was called out for hypocrisy after she claimed on CNN that Democrats in Congress have been "dehumanizing" Republicans, a move she would "never" do—despite her record of doing just that.

Speaking to anchor Katie Bolduan while the search for the suspect who killed far-right activist Charlie Kirk was ongoing, Mace objected to Bolduan's observation that she was using "us v. them" language, only saying that things are "very one-sided right now." She also suggested that the situation is so bad for her that she's actually afraid of "just walking out in public."

Keep ReadingShow less
A younger man stand on top of a mountain with his arms outreached and his face looking to the sky. It's a beautiful day and lakes and mountains are the backdrop.
Photo by Kyle Loftus on Unsplash

People Who Quit Their High-Paying Jobs For Happiness Explain How It Turned Out

Sometimes money isn't the goal.

It is a BIG goal for many.

Keep ReadingShow less