Geenstijl

Iedereen boos, maar

Wees blij want dan gebeurt er nog eens iets in bed HEEEUUUUJJ. Nee maar er wordt dus flink gevreeën door haarfollikelmijten met uw gezicht als matras. Echter, dat is niet het nieuws. Het nieuws is dat hun seksleven op uw gezicht evenredig aan dat van u achteruit holt, en daarom dreigt nu hun UITSTERVING. Verliezers citeren de talloze write-ups in kranten, winnaars citeren het wetenschappelijke artikel uit Molecular biology and Evolution zelf zonder witregels **en doen vervolgens alsof ze het begrijpen:

"Follicular mites are the only metazoans that continuously live on humans. We propose that Demodex folliculorum (Acari) represents a transitional stage from a host-injuring obligate parasite to an obligate symbiont. Here, we describe the profound impact of this transition on the genome and physiology of the mite. Genome sequencing revealed that the permanent host association of D. folliculorum led to an extensive genome reduction through relaxed selection and genetic drift, resulting in the smallest number of protein-coding genes yet identified among panarthropods. Confocal microscopy revealed that this gene loss coincided with an extreme reduction in the number of cells. Single uninucleate muscle cells are sufficient to operate each of the three segments that form each walking leg. While it has been assumed that the reduction of the cell number in parasites starts early in development, we identified a greater total number of cells in the last developmental stage (nymph) than in the terminal adult stage, suggesting that reduction starts at the adult or ultimate stage of development. This is the first evolutionary step in an arthropod species adopting a reductive, parasitic, or endosymbiotic lifestyle. Somatic nuclei show under-replication at the diploid stage. Novel eye structures or photoreceptors as well as a unique human host melatonin-guided day/night rhythm are proposed for the first time. The loss of DNA repair genes coupled with extreme endogamy might have set this mite species on an evolutionary dead-end trajectory."

Samengevat: uw gezicht is het canvas van een gestage maar zekere genocide. En dat in een democratie???