Research Ideas help!

[al439]

I am in my last year of undergrad and I am required to write a grant proposal for one of my classes that is about immunology, evolutionary parasitology, parasite-host interactions, etc. It won't actually be submitted so it doesn't need to be perfect, but it's part of my grade and I'm struggling thinking of ideas that relate to the topics covered in the class (they're not my forte).

 

Some broad topics include parasite-host interactions, life-history factors (relating to disease), tradeoffs, etc.

 

Any tips or ideas that I could build off of would be greatly appreciated!

[CharonY]

Well, the keywords are incredibly broad and one of the most important tasks is to focus a topic to an actionable project. I suggest that you go to pubmed (or equivalent) and use those keywords to find recent reviews. Read until something piques your interest. Then use it to delve into more detail.

[Velocity_Boy]

I am in my last year of undergrad and I am required to write a grant proposal for one of my classes that is about immunology, evolutionary parasitology, parasite-host interactions, etc. It won't actually be submitted so it doesn't need to be perfect, but it's part of my grade and I'm struggling thinking of ideas that relate to the topics covered in the class (they're not my forte).

 

Some broad topics include parasite-host interactions, life-history factors (relating to disease), tradeoffs, etc.

 

Any tips or ideas that I could build off of would be greatly appreciated!

 

One topic that is related to your specified area of study is germ infection, that is, bacterial and viral transmission from one peoples to another, and how it played a huge, highly significant role in the history of warfare, invasion, and domination throughout the world. Inmany wars, in fact, most, more people were killed from disease than from actual combat. When Europeans invaded the so-called New World, the germs they brought with them were their greatest weapon. (or worst, depending on how one looks at it). The Spanish Flu which began during the final year or WWI killed almost 20 million people! This of course is far more than the US has lost in all the wars it fought combined.

 

There have been some pretty popular books written on this topic, and one of the most famous is Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel." (I cannot recall if he won a Nobel Prize for it, but I'm sure it was nominated.) Although I steadfastly disagree with his primary hypothesis in the book--which is unrelated to this sub-topic we are discussing about germs) it is an excellent source for your paper, should you choose this topic. And, so well-known and controversial is this issue of "unintentional germ warfare" that simply Googling it would furnish all the info and stats you would need for a cursory examination of the topic that your assignment requires.