| why do parasites harm their host? on the origin and legacy of theobald smith's "law of declining virulence"--1900-1980. | why do parasites harm their host? the persistence of this question in the history of the life sciences rests partly on a seeming biological paradox. in effect, although the annihilation of the host by a parasite could be depicted as a crude example of "the survival of the fittest," situations where the host dies rapidly often amount to a pyrrhic victory because parasitic colonies harboured within it may die as well before the transmission stage. so why would natural selection favour high virulen ... | 2012 | 23607167 |