Researchers take the Genome Sequence of a Tape Worm Found in a Man's Head. Helps Fight Future Worm Infections.

           A UK man had a tape worm removed from his brain after four years of stumping doctors. The doctors originally ran tests for Cancer, HIV and many other diseases and they all came back as negative. The only representation of anything being wrong with this man is that he had inflammation in his brain, and the PET scans were showing that the inflammation was actually moving. After four years, the doctors decided to operate, to their shock, they ended up pulling out a very rare tape worm. The tape worm is called Spirometra erinaceiuropaei and it lived off absorbing the brains fatty tissue. The man has recovered and is now fine.

Scan of the tape worm moving in the patients head. 

         After the doctors removed the tape worm scientists stepped in and decided to take the genome sequence to fight future infections. The lead researcher Dr. Hayley Bennett made many discoveries. One of the more interesting is that the genome is much larger then what would be suspected "It's 1.26 billion base pairs long" which is about as large as the human genome. This tape worm also had a larger sequence then most tape worms. More importantly, after sequencing the genome the research has found that the tapeworm is resistant to a drug called albendazole, a "widely used anti-tapeworm drug." Knowing this information can help researchers pinpoint a new drug that targets the tape worm and others like it more efficiently. Other researchers have also been working on the sequencing of parasites to help out the medical community. 

          I found this research to be very interesting. First, because a man had a tape worm in his head for 4 years, living and moving as it pleased! Secondly, and more importantly is because it shows how using a genome sequence can help researchers find the proper drugs to fight diseases and other infectious bodies. 

Article 

http://www.popsci.com/rare-brain-dwelling-tapeworm-gets-its-genome-mapped

Related Article 

http://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/projects/parasitegenomics/ 

The Tapeworm:Complete mitochondrial genomes of Taenia multiceps, T. hydatigena and T. pisiformis: additional molecular markers for a tapeworm genus of human and animal health significance

Tapeworms come from the genus Taenia that is comprised of flat worms, many being parasitic. Tapeworm require two mammalian hosts for both transmission as well as life cycle completion. Typically transmission is as follows: egg->herbivore->carnivore where the cestode matures and releases its eggs. Infection by tapeworms in humans is caused by inadvertent consumption of eggs or larva typically found in fleas as well as undercooked meat. Infections in mammals can be life threatening if untreated. The picture to the left is of a tapeworm from a dog.

Mitochondrial genomes have been found to have great impact on the science community in understanding molecular variation amongst species and have provided utility in molecular and population genetics as well as evolutionary biology.The tapeworm genus Taenia has growth to have great importance in both human and veterinary biology because of the vast diversity of the parasite. With the completions of 7 total genomes of  T. multiceps, T. hydatigena and T. pisiformis scientists are able to compare and contrast variations within the genomes of the same genus. This research can help to develop genetic markers and used in what scientists are calling an "extended mitochondrial toolkit". Having completed 7 Taenia species genomes, it is possible to analyze amino acids present as well as estimate phylogenetic features for the genus which differed from previous estimates using only partial genes. With these new analyses, better molecular markers were discovered and now these mitochondrial markers are used for molecular ecology, population genetics as well as diagnostics.