![\"Dean](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2014\/05\/13360-048-260x173.jpg\")
<\/a>Wright State researcher Dean Rider wants to sequence the blue beetle’s DNA to learn why it lives so long.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWhat I would like to do with this beetle is sequence its genome and see what\u2019s inside there\u2014try to find interesting things that tell us about its lifestyle, what might make it live that long,\u201d said Rider, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in biochemistry and molecular biology.<\/p>\n
Blue beetles, or Asbolus verrucosus, can live up to 17 years\u2014four to five times longer than other beetles. They make their home in Mexico and the southwestern United States and can withstand the smoking, triple-digit temperatures of Death Valley and the Mojave Desert.<\/p>\n
The beetle secretes a waxy substance that gives it a powder blue-colored covering to deflect the rays of the sun. It\u2019s been reported that the insect can go without food for months and without water for up to a year.<\/p>\n
Perhaps most interesting is that the blue beetle fakes its own death when faced with a predator.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a defense mechanism,\u201d Rider said. \u201cThese guys pretend they\u2019re dead. They play possum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another mystery about the blue beetle is that it cannot be raised to an adult while in captivity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something we don\u2019t understand in biology that prevents us from doing that,\u201d Rider said. \u201cScientists can raise them to be very large larvae, but then they die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rider, who grew up in Indiana, has had a lifelong interest in insects.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t remember a time when I didn\u2019t care about bugs,\u201d he said. \u201cA neighbor kid and I used to crawl under people\u2019s cars to get at the radiator and pull off the coolest bugs of the day and add those to our collection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rider went on to study genetics at Purdue University, got a master\u2019s degree in entomology from Kansas State and then a Ph.D. in entomology from Purdue.<\/p>\n
He is using his expertise in genetics to investigate the blue beetle and its lifespan, which is something that is not well understood. However, it is known that lifespan is regulated by insulin-signaling pathways.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that if you start to manipulate those in fruit flies or other insects, you can expand lifespan by 50 percent,\u201d Rider said. \u201cThe blue beetle already lives four or five times longer than other beetles. So we\u2019re going to be looking at those insulin-signaling pathways to see what\u2019s there. It could reveal something related to lifespan.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of his research, Rider would like to obtain a computer chip capable of sequencing up to 10 billion base pairs of the beetle\u2019s DNA. To try to raise the $2,500 cost of that\u2014Rider is conducting the research on his own time and dime\u2014he has produced a video of the blue beetle<\/a> to generate interest in the work.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople can donate $1 or $2 and they know it\u2019s going specifically to that project and they can watch the project evolve over time,\u201d Rider said.<\/p>\n Learn more<\/strong><\/p>\n More information about Rider\u2019s research and fundraising efforts is available on the Blue Beetle Genome Project website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wright State researcher Dean Rider is trying to learn blue beetle’s secret to a long life. Continue reading