Higher Geography students at Braidhurst High School came face to face with some of the world’s deadliest animals in their own classroom thanks to Dr Mhairi Stewart and Dr Jane Munday from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology at Glasgow University.

Drs Stewart and Munday came to talk about their work studying parasites and the diseases they cause, and brought with them the female Anopheles mosquito, the carrier of one of the world’s understanding and fighting tropical disease.

Showing them a 4.2 metre long tapeworm in a jar, Dr Stewart told the pupils, “These animals might be really quite ugly to look at but they are perfectly evolved to live, thrive and reproduce in our bodies, bypassing and even hijacking the most advanced defence system known to man, our own immune system”.

As well as the opportunity to study parasites up close pupils were able to carry out hands on experiments with guidance from their guests and their teacher, Kirsty Logan. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and quizzed their guests, gaining a unique insight into the work carried out at Glasgow University.