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An often-despised common household pest may have disproven a deeply rooted biological principle — the idea that, as far as evolution is concerned, you can’t go backward.

Who’s the culprit? The lowly dust mite. By examining and mapping out the phylogenetic tree of the mite in a new study, researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have found that evolution is reversible.

The idea has always been “once a parasite, always a parasite,” study co-author Dr. Barry OConnor, a professor at the university’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, told The Huffington Post. But his recent study suggests otherwise.

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Dust Mites Reversible Evolution

Dust mites may help prove that species do not hit an evolutionary “dead end,” according to a new study that suggests reversible evolution is possible on a complex ecological scale.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/14/house-dust-mites-prove-reversible-evolution-study_n_2878379.html?ref=topbar

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