With the increase in resistance to common pesticides seen in bedbugs, a cure might seem like something only possible in the distant future. However, new advancements made by recent research make a "cure" not such a far-off possibility and with our current understanding of bedbug genetics, we could be able to sleep soundly without the fear of their silent bites sometime soon.
For starters, researchers from the American Museum of Natural History and Weill Cornell Medicine have successfully assembled the genome of bedbugs and pinpointed genetic variations that exist in different areas of New York's subway line, allowing scientists to develop insecticides that take this genetic diversity into consideration and combat the ancient pests more effectively.
Another team of researchers has discovered the specific genes in bedbugs associated with insecticide resistance, including unique proteins in their cuticle that protect them against insecticide penetration and as well as enzymes that serve to breakdown and detoxify the chemicals, according to FOX News.
Furthermore, researchers have revealed that the bedbug microbiome contains more than 1,500 genes that connect to more than 400 different species of bacteria, giving scientists specific targets to attack with antibiotics, which could decrease the bacteria that are beneficial for bedbug survival.
"Having this resource opens up a lot of potential new rounds of research in dealing with bed bugs," said Joshua Benoit, who is a part of the International Bed Bug Genome Project Collaboration. "In a year or two, we might actually develop better ways to control bed bugs."
Other research points to histamine, a chemical produced in human blood as a part of the immune response, as being able to paralyze bedbugs.
Ultimately, the mapping of the bedbug genome, as well as analysis of their DNA data and variations across different geographic locations, could help scientists finally devise a method that will eliminate, or at least control, the world's current population of bedbugs, according to the Cornell Chronicle.
