Mites that mate on our faces at night face extinction threat
Gliding through grease, and protected by our pores, tiny Demodex folliculorum mites lead a secretive life within our skin, only emerging at night to mate on our foreheads, noses and nipples. Successful as these sexual encounters are, their days as independent parasites may be numbered.
The first ever genome sequencing study of these mites appears to have caught them in the process of transitioning to internal symbionts, entirely dependent on us for their existence. Eventually, this process may even lead to their extinction.
Measuring just 0.3mm long, D folliculorum are carried by roughly 90% of people, and are most abundant in the wings of the nose, the forehead, the ear canal and the nipples. They lead a harmless life, feasting on the sebum naturally secreted by cells in the pores, and are likely to have been present since early life, having been transferred from our mothers during birth or breastfeeding.
“The long association with humans might suggest that they could have simple but important beneficial roles, for example, in keeping the pores in our face unplugged,” said Dr Henk Braig from Bangor University and the National University of San Juan in Argentina, who led the research.
