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SCIENCEThursday 4 February 2016
Scientists map bedbug genome, follow pest through NYC subway
VERENA DOBNIK In this March 30, 2011, file photo, a bedbug is displayed at the Smithsonian Museum in Wash- research team at 36 institu-
Associated Press ington. tions, including the Univer-
NEW YORK (AP) — Scien- sity of Cincinnati.
tists have mapped the Associated Press The New York team’s re-
genome of bedbugs in sulting scientific paper on
New York City, then traced ations between the Upper Geneticist Christopher Ma- bug project. the subject was published
fragments of the nefarious East Side and Upper West son, who worked on the He says New York’s bed- Tuesday in Nature Commu-
pests’ DNA through the Side. project, says the reason for bugs “move around with nications. A second paper
subway system. that can be found simply by people, dogs, and peo- on bedbug genetics, from
In the grubby recesses of looking at a subway map: ple’s items — and they the University of Cincinnati,
hundreds of stations, they In Manhattan, for instance, probably move most eas- also appeared Tuesday in
discovered surprising ge- subway lines run the length ily the way people move the same publication.
netic diversity among the of the island north to south, most easily.” To learn how the bedbug
bloodsucking creatures. while there’s no subway Amato collaborated with has evolved and spread,
The next step is to figure out link through Central Park Mason, who works at Weill the New York team took
how the information can between the East Side and Cornell Medicine’s Institute DNA sample swabs from
be put to good use, such the West Side. for Computational Bio- 1,400 city locations includ-
as to develop better insec- Not that bedbugs are riding medicine. ing subway cars, turnstiles,
ticides or blood thinners. the subway, noted George A bedbug colony at the ticket vending kiosks, and
But these goals will take fur- Amato, an evolutionary famed museum was used above ground places like
ther medical research. biologist at the American for the genome map. A parks.
For now, the focus is on two Museum of Natural History similar map was assem- Amato said there are many
main players in New York who also worked on bed- bled by an international ways small fragments of
life: the subway and bed- the insects’ DNA, or DNA
bugs. of a related species, could
Scientists already have get into the subway —
found that genetic trac- clinging to the clothes of
es of bedbugs in north- some of the 6 million daily
ern Manhattan are more riders and their belongings,
closely related to those in or washed down into the
the island’s southern part, stations.
while there are bigger vari- Amato said the first rough
bedbug genetic sequence
emerged about a year
ago, but it took months to
refine the model into an
accurate genome.
“Before this, people were
just feeling their way
through in the dark; this
genome turns the light on
for various areas of other
research,” said Amato.
“Our team is now moving
on to the genetics of cock-
roaches and other living
fossils.”q
