After 10 years of research , an international team of scientists has managed to decipher the genetic code of the tsetse fly, an insect native to sub-Saharan Africa that feeds exclusively on blood and a carrier of trypanosomiasis , commonly known as “sleeping sickness. ”.
The team, made up of 140 scientists from around the world, has specifically sequenced the genome of the species Glossina morsitans morsitans , whose parasite kills around 3 million head of cattle per year, as well as numerous human lives .
The study, which has been published in the journal Science , has identified the 366 megaunits that make up the genome of the tsetse fly, analyzing 12,308 genes of the fly and, thanks to this, they have been able to decipher several of its characteristics. For example, they have discovered that this insect gives birth to its young and feeds them with a mixture of proteins very similar to those of mother’s milk or that it has a visual system very similar to that of the common fly.
“Discovering something similar to lactation, a defining aspect of mammalian biology, in tsetse flies provides a unique opportunity to study how two organisms so far apart develop similar biological adaptations . Surprisingly, the analysis of the proteins of this substance that we resemble milk has shown that they are similar in the two species “, says Serap Aksoy, researcher at the Yale School of Public Health (USA) and promoter of this project called International Glossina Genome Initiative.
According to the WHO, around 70 million people are at risk of infection , so deciphering the genome of this deadly insect will mean the possibility of interfering with the reproduction of these insects and reducing their population and, therefore, their impact. , as well as propose new strategies against sleeping sickness.
