Scientists Map Gene of STD Parasite

This image provided by the journal Science, is a scanned electron micrograph showing Trichomonas vaginalis parasites (green) adhering to vaginal epithelial cells (pink) collected from vaginal swabs (AP Photo/Courtesy of Antonio Pereira-Neves and Marlene Benchimol, Santa Ursula University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

(AP) -- The tiny parasite undulates under the microscope like some creature from a sci-fi movie, but this one is all too real, latching onto the sexually unwary with tentacle-like probes. Now scientists have mapped the genes of the nasty little bug that causes one of the world's most common, and arguably least recognized, sexually transmitted infections, one with the tongue-twisting name of trichomoniasis.

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