Don: On today's Moment of Science we're going to look at a rare kind of sea slug that      burrows...ah, hold on a sec...

Yaël: What's wrong?

D: I've got this darn itch on my back where it's really hard to reach...Ahhh, there.

Y: Maybe you've got the itching gene.

D: What?

Y: The itching gene. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine discovered      in mice a gene involved with itching. Mice with the gene scratch a lot when they      experience something itchy, and mice engineered not to have the gene don't scratch      nearly as much.

D: Huh. I guess that's interesting...but is it? I mean, everyone itches sometimes. So why      is it important to know that there's a gene involved?

Y: In your case maybe it's not. But for people with diseases like psoriasis and eczema,      itching isn't just a minor, occasional inconvenience. It's a chronic, potentially life-      disrupting problem.

D: I see. So finding an itching gene is important because if we know there's a gene that's      involved with itching, we may be able to find ways to shut it down in people with      serious itching diseases.

Y: Right. Keep in mind that so far the gene has only been detected in mice. And the      researchers haven't yet figured out how to turn it off, or if that would even stop the      itching sensation completely. But in theory at least, someone could develop a drug      that would somehow block the gene.

D: Which could cut down and maybe even cut out itching. Now that is interesting.  

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