The human body is fascinating. There are some truly disturbing and even creepy things about it that would sound like fiction if we didn’t know better.
I’m sure we have once wondered what life would be like if we could see all the micro-organisms around us.
Not a sight I am particularly keen on ever seeing, but a study titled “Human follicular mites: ectoparasites becoming symbionts” published on Oxford Academic has now cemented a disturbing image of microscopic mites that live in our pores and mate on our faces.
In the study, it was found that while we are sleeping, these tiny creatures come out and have sex to make more mites. Yes, you heard that correctly – our faces are a sex dungeon, so to speak.
Dr Alejandra Perotti, co-author and associate professor in invertebrate biology at the University of Reading in the UK, says the in-depth study of the Demodex folliculorum DNA reveals that due to their isolated existence with no exposure to external threats or competition to infest host or encounters with other mites with different genetic make-up, they have become extremely simple organisms powered by proteins to survive, which is what causes them to shed unnecessary genes and cells.
The microscopic organisms feed on the sebum that is naturally produced by pore-lining cells and are found in hair follicles on the face, in the nipples, and even in the eyelashes. In search of a mate, they become active at night and move between follicles.
@Gabino Iglesias tweeted: “Things are rough, so it’s the perfect time to remind all of you that you’re not alone. Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis, the microscopic mites that call your face home, will come out to feed, burrow, breed, and poop all over your face tonight. You are loved. Sweet dreams.”
Things are rough, so it’s the perfect time to remind all of you that you’re not alone. Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis, the microscopic mites that call your face home, will come out to feed, burrow, breed, and poop all over your face tonight. You are loved. Sweet dreams.
— Gabino Iglesias (@Gabino_Iglesias) February 24, 2022
It makes sense that people would be a little frightened after learning what creatures are doing to their faces while they are asleep.
One user commented: “Microscopic mites party harder than I do these days.”
However, co-leader of the study, Dr Henk Braig, from Bangor University and the National University of San Juan, argued that despite the mites’ gruesome nature, they play “simple but important beneficial roles” like maintaining pores in our skin and so shouldn’t be condemned and blamed for their existence.
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