login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Scientists Sequence Human Body Louse Genome
The achievement is expected to yield new insights into louse - and human - biology and evolution.
The research also sequenced the genome of a microbe that lives inside the body louse.
The tiny, blood-sucking body louse Pediculus humanus humanus L. seems to appear out of nowhere during economic downturns, wars and other crises that cause people to live in unsanitary conditions.
It is closely related to the head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, which also feeds on human blood. But the body louse lives in clothing and, unlike the head louse, can spread bacterial diseases.
The body louse genome is the smallest known genome of any insect, according to University of Illinois entomology professor Barry Pittendrigh, who led the drive to fund the project and coordinated the international team of scientists who analysed the sequence.
The size of the body louse genome probably reflects its rather protected habitat and predictable diet, he pointed out.
Pittendrigh said: "The ecology of lice is very, very simple. It either lives in your hair or on your clothing, and it has one type of meal, and that's blood.
"So most of the genes that are responsible for sensing or responding to the environment are very much reduced."
The genome analysis found very few genes for light-sensing protein receptors, for example.
University of Illinois entomology professor Hugh Robertson was responsible for sorting out the genes contributing to chemical sensing, and discovered that the louse has significantly fewer taste and odorant receptors than other insects.
|
|
|
More News on: Healthy Living
 Comment & Contribute
|
Medwonders Health Network
- Health News Index
- News Quick Links
| News Categories: |
| » | Vivek Oberoi Says There is No Smoking on His Sets |
| » | Gasoigne Swaps Booze for Botox |
| » | Michelle Obama: Name of Olive Tree in Italy |
| » | Beyonce: Most Beautiful Women in the World |
| » | Robin Gibb Recovers from Coma Wakes Up to Cancer |
| More Celebrity News | |
|
