4 ms·
I just skimmed through an article (from HN, I think, but i can't seem to find it) about using DNA and PCR to find animals in streams that are otherwise very har
by webnrrd2k 12y ago
I just skimmed through an article (from HN, I think, but i can't seem to find it) about using DNA and PCR to find animals in streams that are otherwise very hard to find.
This seems like a perfect tool for diagnosing some of these sufferers. If there is some sort of tick DNA that shows up, say, in the water after a thorough scrubbing in a bath, then there's a good chance that a tick infestation is the actual cause.
- bglazer 12y agoThe article you're referencing is detection of the notoriously secretive Idaho giant salamander [1]. Your idea is particularly interesting because it has already been used to detect and study the diversity of Demodex face mites in humans [2]. [1] http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0022746 http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjourna... [2] http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0106265 http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone... A somewhat disturbing, but perhaps not surprising, fact is that 100% of people studied in the Demodex article had detectable mite populations on their face.