Battle against lice may be aided by genome study
Literally.
In their quest to understand how life works, researchers
reported Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
that they have sequenced the genome of the human body louse.
That's right, those annoying little suckers that live on human
blood and place their eggs in clothing.
From a practical standpoint, the findings could lead to better
ways to eliminate this parasite, which can carry diseases to
people, according to the researchers led by Ewen F. Kirkness of the
J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md. and Barry R.
Pittendrigh of the University of Illinois, Urbana.
It turns out that the human body louse relies for its digestion
on a specific type of bacteria, which is not resistant to
antibiotics. So finding a way to get drugs to the bacteria might
kill the lice too. Knowing more about lice may also lead to new
types of repellant.
The louse genome is small and contains relatively few genes
related to light reception or reacting to odors and tastes, the
study found.
The researchers said it appears that the human body louse
evolved from the human head louse about the time people started
wearing clothes, offering lice another place to hide. In addition,
they noted that the human louse and the Chimpanzee louse evolved
from a common ancestor between 5 million and 7 million years ago.
It's been more than an annoyance ever since, potentially
carrying typhus, relapsing fever and trench fever.
"Beyond its importance in the context of human health, the body
louse genome is of considerable importance to understanding insect
evolution," May R. Berenbaum, head of the entomology department at
the University of Illinois, said in a statement.
The genome sequencing effort involved researchers at 28
institutions in the U.S., Europe, Australia and South Korea.
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