Once more the menace of the global bed bug infestation has risen to the top of the news pages. These pesky little prehistoric creatures have been wreaking havoc on sleepy people all over and the battle is still on, however, this time scientists have made a breakthrough via genetic means by finally sequencing the dna of the bed bug.
Bed bugs are tiny little buggers that subsist on the blood of other animals, int his case, we humans. They’ve been around since prehistoric times and have been a constant companion until the 1940s and 50s in the US when DDT was used to wipe out pests. Since then they’ve made a resounding comeback and cost 100s of millions of dollars per year in costly pest control.
Bed bugs are classified as an ectoparasite of global proportions. Due to extensive travel and interaction, people have spread the menace throughout the four corners of the globe.
The latest sequencing of the dna of the bed bug will hopefully find a way to eradicate or at least diminish their power. Perhaps a new insecticide can be developed that the bed bugs cannot build a resistance to.
Bed bugs have a scientific name, Cimex lectularius, and this advance in genetic sequencing may herald in a new age of pest control the likes of which science fiction stories are made.
Combining this new technological approach to known preventative measures of bed bugs pest control, the future of the creatures is sure to be eradication back to nature. Bed bugs have been infesting bats since who knows when. When humans started using caves as homes and refuge, the parasites probably moved from the bats to the humans. People can engage in preventative measures by first checking for bed bugs. They’re very small, about the size of an apple seed. They can burrow into wood and other soft tissue or soft material making them difficult to get at. There are natural solutions on a commercial level that one can purchase or hire a professional pest control expert.
The trick is to get to the bed bugs before they become a major infestation and make it far more expensive to dig out.
By now knowing what makes these creature tick via their genetic sequencing, we can now develop effective and environmentally safe preventative and offensive systems to deal with them.
Image credit: Wikipedia