On our second day at Azabu University, we got the opportunity to dissect two fish and look for parasites. We also watched a video of a case study. In the case study, a woman had eaten sushi and ingested a living parasite from the fish. This happened because the fish was not prepared in a way that would kill the parasite. The woman had to go to the hospital to have the parasite removed because it was stuck in her digestive tract and was trying to get out. The parasite’s escape efforts caused the woman severe pain and posed a risk of a deadly infection. We learned that fish needs to be cooked at a high enough temperature or frozen cool enough to kill any possible parasites before it should be served to anyone. With fish being such a staple in the Japanese diet, it is very important for people who prepare food to know this. Having standards on food preparation keeps the public free of parasit
es and parasitic infections that can cause severe harm to individuals.
We were split into groups of two and each set of partners opened two types of fish to look for small parasites that were encased in little circles. We cut the fish down the abdomen all the way down to about an inch before we reached the tail. Then we peeled up the skin and tissue to reveal the fish’s organs. We also cut off the flesh that the bones were in and searched for parasites in the part that was left on the fish and what we removed. When we dissected the parasites out of the fish, we took them out of the circular casing, and they were shaped like long skinny worms. The fish also had another type of parasite that looked like a grain of rice. We found most of the parasites embedded in the organs of the fish. There were particularly a lot of parasites near the stomachs of the fish. As we removed the worm parasites, we placed them in saline. In the saline, the parasites wiggled around frantically for a while and then they would slow down.
Next, we did an experiment on the worm parasites to see under what conditions they could live the longest. We put one parasite in small dishes of saline, soy sauce, wasabi, and whisky and took note of how long it took each parasite to die. We could tell when they died because they would stop moving around. Whisky killed the parasites the fastest and saline killed them the slowest. I was surprised that the fish lived for so long in soy sauce. It was the second most hospitable environment after saline.
I liked doing this dissection and experiment because it was a very hands-on activity and it allowed me to consider the research that goes into making sure our food is safe to eat. This relates to public health because scientists had to experiment with methods to figure out what would most effectively kill parasites so that people could consume fish without fear or a high probability of becoming ill. Food is an integral part of health, but it can end up being quite dangerous for us if the right precautions are not made. I am grateful to have learned more about the ways scientific research is keeping the public safe through this dissection experience.