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Phoenix666 writes:

Researchers at the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have sequenced the genome of the black blow fly, an insect commonly found throughout the United States, southern Canada and parts of northern Europe.

Black blow flies have environmental, medical and forensic uses, functioning as nature's recyclers, as wound cleansers and as forensic timekeepers. They have a blue or green sheen and are similar in size to common houseflies.

The female genome was found to contain 8,312 genes; the male genome had 9,490 genes.

"There is nothing special about black blow flies (scientific name Phormia regina), but that lack of uniqueness is why scientists are interested in studying them," said Christine Picard, assistant professor of biology and forensic scientist, who led the team that sequenced the genome.
...
Black blow flies feed on decaying flesh and help consume dead vertebrates throughout the environment. Black blow fly larvae, or maggots, are used medically to debride human wounds, as the insects physically remove dead tissue while simultaneously excreting antimicrobial compounds into the wound. With an excellent sense for smelling recently dead tissue, black blow flies are usually the first insects to colonize a human body, frequently within minutes after death. Females lay eggs on recently deceased corpses, setting a "clock" that enables forensic investigators to estimate the postmortem interval, or minimum time since death.

+1 Interesting, But Gross?

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