Globe trotting parasiteSpecies: Plasmodium vivaxGenome size: ~27 million base pairs
Interesting fact: The malaria parasite, Plasmodium vivax, can share alleles across the globe, according to researchers at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. The researchers sequenced isolates of the parasite from Madagascar, Cambodia, El Salvador, and a monkey-adapted strain from South America, and found evidence for a high amount of gene sharing, raising concern that the parasites could rapidly spread drug resistance genes around the world. The parasites are such good travelers because they can lie dormant in a patient’s liver for months and reemerge in a new locale.
E. Chan et al., “Whole genome sequencing of field isolates provides robust characterization of genetic diversity in Plasmodium vivax,” PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 6: e1811, 2012.
Brown-eyed girlSpecies: Denisova homininsGenome size: ~3 billion base pairs
Interesting fact: New technology allowed researchers to sequence the genome of ...
