Scientists have unlocked the genetic secrets of one of the least-loved creatures around, the tick species that spreads Lyme disease. The research may lead to new methods to control these diminutive arachnids that dine on blood.
The researchers said on Tuesday they have sequenced the genome of Ixodes scapularis, better known as the deer tick or blacklegged tick, which transmits Lyme and other diseases by chomping through the skin of people and animals and releasing infected saliva as they devour blood.
The study identified more than 24,000 genes involving traits such as blood-meal digestion, manipulation of the immune response of the host being bitten to permit long periods of feeding, and detoxification of compounds such as insecticides.