Clark part of effort to sequence louse genome
John M. Clark, an environmental toxicologist in the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, is part of a team of researchers that has been given the green light to take steps towards sequencing the genome of the human body louse.
The project may lead to new methods for controlling the blood-sucking insect, which can be a carrier of fatal diseases. The research is being funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Body lice, and their relatives the head lice and pubic lice, all feed on humans. When not eating blood, body lice hide in and lay eggs on clothing. The body louse can carry Rickettsia prowazekii, a category B bioterrorism agent that causes typhus. The disease tends to surface where hygiene is poor, often in developing countries or crowded places such as jails.
The body louse genome is one of seven non-mammalian organisms chosen for the sequencing program and one of three targeted for a high-quality sequence. According to the NIH, the louse was included in this group because it is one of the organisms that can shed light on how life has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years.
April 28, 2006.
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