#head lice

It wasn't til I was seven and a nurse sent me home from school and explained what they were that I realized that most people didn't have lice. I went home with my 5 year old brother to my 3 year old sister with the left overs of my lunch in my backpack for her. As she ate I began to pick at the bugs in her hair putting them in a jar. Then when she decided she had sat still long enough debating how do I get rid of them.

I remember the nurse saying something about shampoo and combs. But we didn't have money for food tonight let alone shampoo and the closest store was so far away to walk. I remember running down the street to use my neighbors phone to call my nana. I remember begging her to get us shampoo and she did and she even shaved my brothers hair. And we used the shampoo with the cold water from our neighbors hose while they weren't home so they wouldn't yell at us for stealing thier water again.

We never fully got rid of the lice until I was 12 and put into a childrens home with nothing but the clothes on my back and my sister. I'm in my 30s now and some times I still can feel the phantom movements of them in my hair.

[CDC: Maybe if we set this on fire. Anyone with good sense: Oh, yeah? That's a no.]

Human DNA can be extracted from the 'cement' head lice used to glue their eggs to hairs thousands of years ago, scientists have found, which could provide an important new window into the past.

In a new study, scientists for the first time recovered DNA from cement on hairs taken from mummified remains that date back 1,500-2,000 years. This is possible because skin cells from the scalp become encased in the cement produced by female lice as they attach eggs, known as nits, to the hair.