Congratulations: You Have Nearly As Many Genes As Trick Parasite

A simple one-celled parasite called Trichomonas Vaginalis, also known as “trick”, which causes an itchy and smelly genital infection especially dangerous to women, has nearly as many genes as a human being, researchers reported on Thursday.

They mapped the genome of Trichomonas vaginalis, which causes the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection, and hope they have found a few chinks in its armor.

Trichomonas, often called “trick”, affects at least 170 million people globally. It is not only itchy and unpleasant, but can infect newborns, cause preterm births and small babies.

Dr. Jane Carlton’s, of the New York University School of Medicine, team of 66 researchers in 10 countries found the little protozoan has an exceptionally large collection of DNA, with close to 26,000 confirmed genes - nearly as many as the human genome. Link

And you thought you were special as human beings, didn’t you?