Scientists map bedbug genome, follow pest through NYC subway

Scientists already have found that genetic traces of bedbugs in northern Manhattan are more closely related to those in the island's southern part, while there are bigger variations between the Upper East Side and Upper West Side.

Not that bedbugs are riding the subway, noted George Amato, an evolutionary biologist at the American Museum of Natural History who also worked on bedbug project.

To learn how the bedbug has evolved and spread, the New York team took DNA sample swabs from 1,400 city locations including subway cars, turnstiles, ticket vending kiosks, and above ground places like parks.

Amato said there are many ways small fragments of the critters' DNA, or DNA of a related species, could get into the subway — clinging to the clothes of some of the 6 million daily riders and their belongings, or washed down into the stations.