
The Arachnids That Live on Your Face - peeko
http://news.ncsu.edu/2014/08/face-mites-2014/
======
jackpirate
I wish the article would have addressed how babies get these mites from their
parents. Are they present in the womb? Or do they get transferred from all the
hugs and kisses?

~~~
JshWright
There's no way they are in the womb (they wouldn't be able to get inside the
uterus, and the immune system would attack them quite quickly if they did).

They are almost certainly transfered via close skin contact (breastfeeding,
etc).

~~~
pmalynin
"There's no way they are in the womb (they wouldn't be able to get inside the
uterus, and the immune system would attack them quite quickly if they did)."
That is simply untrue [1,2,3,4, 5]. It has been recently discovered that many
fetuses acquire their gut bacteria before parturition, it is logical to assume
that the same can happened with these mites.

[1]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3747743](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3747743)
[2]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22647043](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22647043)
[3]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18281199](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18281199)
[4]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19018955](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19018955)
[5]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18166321](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18166321)

~~~
ars
> it is logical to assume that the same can happened with these mites

Bacteria are about 1/100 the size (1/1,000,000 the volume) of these mites. The
mites can be seen by the naked eye (barely).

How would the mite even get in? Much less breathe. Bacteria can get in the
same way sperm do, mites are not able to swim through the fluid.

~~~
pmalynin
Frankly my point was more about the immune system.

~~~
ars
I didn't downmod you, I thought the point about bacteria was good.

But you went rather too far in assuming what's true for bacteria is true for
mites.

Plus the immune system actively works with bacteria to cultivate specific
species. So you should not extrapolate to all bacteria either.

------
devindotcom
Yeah, it's always better not to look too close. Just wait til you find out
what lives in your mouth!

Reminds me of this piece detailing the writer's own "microbiome":

[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/06/27/discoverin...](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/06/27/discovering-
my-microbiome-you-my-friend-are-a-wonderland/)

~~~
vacri
On the contrary, it's better to look close. Death to the public squeamishness
about human biology, I say! Know and understand how your body travels through
life, don't fear it and put it out of your mind :)

------
jschmitz28
I woke up with swollen eyelids one morning a few years back and was diagnosed
with blepharitis later that day. I now use Sterilid 1-2 times a day since it
contains tea tree oil which supposedly is effective in treatment against
Demodex. I occasionally still get flareups/complications but they've
definitely seemed rarer since using the product:

[http://www.theratears.com/sterilid.php](http://www.theratears.com/sterilid.php)

------
delinka
I'll be rubbing my face for the next three days with imaginary itches from
bugs that live on my face.

~~~
Houshalter
You could probably kill them with rubbing alcohol on your skin.

~~~
octagonal
I really hope this article doesn't make anyone actually try to get rid of
these arachnids although I'm sure "hygiene" companies will be all over this in
a few years.

> _Spiders are living on your FACE!_ Please buy our stuff.

~~~
rdtsc
Already happening in Easter Europe and China. Go to the doctor and they show
you under the microscope -- look you got spiders on your face. Buy this cream
we made in the basement over at my cousins' it will help you.

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dang
Url changed from
[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2014/08/27/3-things-d...](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2014/08/27/3-things-
didnt-know-mites-live-face/), which points to this.

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bglazer
> Dan Fergus ... discovered that mite DNA could be sequenced from face
> scrapings regardless of whether a mite could be found under the microscope

Reminds me of the use of DNA sequencing to detect giant salamanders using DNA
collected from stream water. [0]

There's something so incredible wondrous to me about this. Tiny, tiny signals
revealing secret hidden life.

[0]
[http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjourna...](http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0022746)

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chrisweekly
Remember, each of us is an ecosystem in which purely "human" cells are
_vastly_ outnumbered. We should get comfortable with that idea.

------
Codhisattva
"There ain't no bugs on me. There ain't no bugs on me. There may be bugs on
some of you mugs but there ain't no bugs on me."

This old nursery rhythm can join Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the
other lies we tell our children.

------
quackerhacker
I wonder if I'm the only one who gets annoyed by how many suggestions of
evolutionary theory there are in the article.

 _we acquired our mites from our ape ancestors..._

 _as early humans walked out of Africa..._

I believe in evolution...but I believe in misinterpretation a lot more.

~~~
robin_reala
What is it you believe was misinterpreted? That mites were passed over rather
than staying through the process of evolution?

