Medicinal leeches (notably Hirudo verbana) maintain a remarkably simple yet deeply integrated microbial community within their digestive tract. This symbiosis is dominated by two bacterial species, ...

As we tidy away the Dracula capes and glow-in-the-dark plastic fangs for another winter, one notorious blood sucker has had a particularly good year. For the first time the medicinal leech Hirudo ...

European medicinal leeches were famous for their popular purpose: treatment for everything from cancer to mental illness. But the high demand left them endangered—still today. Bloodletting ...