ticks
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Ticks Use This One Neat Trick to Help Them Suck Your Blood, Study Finds
Blood-sucking ticks might be even clingier than we thought. Recent research has found that at least one tick species seems to use static electricity to help itself grapple onto potential hosts. The trick allows the tick to extend its reach by several body lengths, the authors say. Ticks are tiny parasitic arachnids, though they’re more…
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We’ve Got You Now, Ticks
Ticks won’t be able to conceal their fiendish tricks much longer. In new research this week, researchers claim to have genetically modified tick embryos in the lab using CRISPR — an apparent first in the field. The achievement should one day allow us to better understand these bugs, especially those responsible for Lyme disease and…
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Experimental Anti-Tick Vaccine Aims to Stop Bites That Could Spread Lyme
In the not-so-distant future, campers and hikers may be able to get a shot that not only protects them from Lyme disease but also from the bloodsucking ticks that spread it — at least if Yale-led research into an anti-tick vaccine continues to show promise. In a new study involving guinea pigs, an experimental mRNA-based…
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‘Soft’ Bat Ticks Found in New Jersey for the First Time and This Is Not What We Need Right Now
As if we don’t have enough bad news to share right now, a tick species associated with bats has been spotted in New Jersey for the very first time. The health risks are unknown, but these parasites, as common vectors for disease, could threaten humans, pets, and livestock.