Older than Humans?
Lyme disease is a misdiagnosed disease that was only recognized round 40 years ago. However, new studies of ticks found in socialized amber have found that they hold a bacterial which cause this disease maybe have been around for over 1.5 million years. Researches from Oregon State University studied the 15-20 million year old amber from the Dominican Republic and found Borreila, a kind of bacteria responsible for lyme disease.
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140529142538.htm
NOS:
- Science is collaborative
- Science is based on evidence
- Science is Tentative
I found that before this tick was found the earliest evidence of lyme disease was in the Iceman mummy. They found bacteria which only causes the disease when they sequenced his genome.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/iceman-mummy-lyme-disease-120228.htm
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States, so I was very surprised to read that it was only discovered 40 years ago. Because the soft bodied bacteria that causes lyme disease was able to be preserved in amber, scientists were able to make this discovery. If the ticks were to be fossilized in another substance, this discovery possibly could have not been made. You can find out more information here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newsweek.com/lyme-disease-nothing-new-scientists-report-252872
I did my own research on what exactly lyme disease was and found that it is a disease a bacterial disease that is spread through the bite of certain types of ticks. The bite can cause a rash and in some cases it was fatel. Some people have become paralyzed from what they think is lyme disease. This happens very rarely to mostly kids under the age of 10. This mainly happens to animals and live stock.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aldf.com/TickParalysis.shtml