National Cockroach Project (NCP)

Our National Cockroach Project (NCP) aims to map genetic diversity in the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana). This week an excellent post by Douglas Main on LiveScience captures the science and spirit of the project and results so far. The LiveScience post was picked up by NBC News, Yahoo News, and Discovery websites. Results so far show four distinct genetic types of American cockroaches living together in New York City. Like New Yorkers, cockroaches differ by neighborhood. We are continuing to solicit contributions from citizen scientists and hope to learn more including where in the world the genetic variants came from originally.