Lethal parasite evolved from pond scum

A genomic investigation has revealed that a lethal parasite infecting a wide range of insects actually originated from pond scum, but has completely shed its green past on its evolutionary journey. The research team sequenced the genome of Helicosporidium -- an intracellular parasite that can kill juvenile blackflies, caterpillars, beetles and mosquitoes -- and found it evolved from algae like another notorious pathogen: malaria.

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