Excerpt:

Members of the genus Borrelia are among the most common
infectious agents causing tick-borne disease in humans worldwide.
Here, we developed a Light Upon
eXtension(TM) (LUX) real-time PCR assay that can detect and
quantify Borrelia species in ticks that have fed on humans, and
we applied the assay to 399 such ticks. Borrelia PCR-positive
ticks were identified to species by sequencing the products of
conventional PCR performed using Borrelia group-specific primers.
There was a 19% prevalence of Borrelia spp. in the detached
ticks, and the number of spirochetes per Borrelia PCR-positive
tick ranged from 2.0 x 10(2) to
4.9 x 10(5) with a median of 7.8 x 10(3) spirochetes. Adult ticks
had a significantly larger number of spirochetes with a median of
8.4 x 10(4) compared to the median of nymphs 4.4 x 10(4). Adult
ticks also exhibited higher prevalence of Borrelia (33%) compared
to nymphs (14%). Among the identified species, Borrelia afzelii
was found to predominate (61%), followed by B. garinii (23%), B.
valaisiana (13%), B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (1%), B.
lusitaniae (1%), and B. miyamotoi-like (1%). Also, 3% of the
ticks were co-infected with multiple strains of B. afzelii.
Notably, this is the first report of B.
lusitaniae being detected in ticks in Sweden. 

Excerpt:

Chronic pain is a serious medical problem, afflicting approximately 20% of adults. Some individuals are more susceptible than others, and the degree of pain experienced after injury or surgery is known to be highly variable between patients, even under nearly identical circumstances.

The basis for this has remained largely unknown, prompting researchers to search for the contribution of genetics to chronic pain susceptibility. To accelerate research in this field, animal models are proving to be critical to understanding the underlying biology of chronic pain in human patients.

First, the international research team – led by Profs. Ariel Darvasi and Marshall Devor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and including scientists in Canada and Europe – identified a region of mouse chromosome 15 that likely contained a genetic variant or variants contributing to pain.