Cat parasite drives risk-taking in entrepreneurs

A PARASITE spread by cats could be the key to being a successful entrepreneur, scientists have concluded.

The discovery suggests there may be a bizarre advantage to being infected by the organism, Toxoplasma gondii.

According to the findings, the singlecelled parasite worms its way into the brain and causes personality changes associated with risk-taking.

While rarely producing symptoms other than a mild flu-like illness, T.gondii – which studies suggest has affected up to 50 per cent of the world’s population – has been linked to car accidents, neuroticism and suicide.

Now the latest research provides new evidence that it actually drives risk-taking in business, helping to promote entrepreneurial activity. Part of the study found that professionals attending business events were almost twice as likely to have started their own enterprise if they were T.gondii positive.

Analysis of databases from 42 countries revealed that on a global scale, prevalence of T. gondii infection was a “consistent, positive predictor of entrepreneurial activity”. The results appear in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.