Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Science Biology

All adults have face mites, new study shows

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
September 24, 2014
in Biology, News

Tiny eight legged creatures crawl on all our faces, a new study shows. In other words, if you’re an adult – you have face mites.

Face Mite
Face mite. USDA Confocal Electron Microscopy Unit

Face mites are parasitic/commensal creatures; when they are present in large numbers, they can cause an infestation called demodicosis. The mites are usually found in the human hair follicles, normally found in greater numbers around the cheeks, nose, eyebrows, eyelashes, and forehead. They could also be found in other parts of the body such as arms, chest, and ears. They vary in size from 0.1 mm to 0.4 mm long. Generally speaking, they are considered commensal organisms – they benefit from the host, but they don’t cause any harm to it.

Until recently, scientists believed that only a part of all humans have face mites. However, a new study (which you can read fully here) found that 100 per cent of 253 people over age 18 had mite DNA on their faces. This suggests that mites are general inhabitants of our faces. They also found that there are two species typically inhabiting our faces: Demodex brevis is the first one; it is perfectly adapted to bury itself in our sweat glands.

ADVERTISEMENT

“It’s actually evolved the perfect shape to wiggle in the pores,” Kachur said.

The other one is called Demodex folliculorum and it inhabits the hair follicles of our eyelashes, eyebrows and facial skin.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

This study shows just how complex our body’s ecosystems are. There are countless microorganisms living on (or inside) us, and we are just now starting to understand how we interact with them.

Another interesting facet of the study is that face mites can be used to track the migration of human populations. Since they are so ubiquitous and they can be genetically distinguished one from another, they could be used to trace how populations moved across time.

ADVERTISEMENT

Journal Reference: Megan S. Thoemmes, Daniel J. Fergus, Julie Urban, Michelle Trautwein, Robert R. Dunn. Ubiquity and Diversity of Human-Associated Demodex Mites. Published: August 27, 2014DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0106265

Tags: face mite
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.