Senior Arushi Kansal has been conducting a multi‑year research project through DNA Club and Biotechnology Research, focusing on sex ratio distorters (SRDs) in the common pillbug Armadillidium vulgare. SRDs are microorganisms that can cause genetically male pillbugs to develop as reproductive females—a process known as feminization.

For her project, Arushi collected pillbugs from 13 states across the U.S. She then extracted DNA from their tissues and analyzed specific genetic markers for signs of SRD influence.

This week, however, she encountered a surprising result: one of her samples produced a DNA match not with a pillbug—but with a thorny‑headed worm called P. cylindraceus. After digging deeper, Arushi learned that this parasite infects robins but uses A. vulgare pillbugs as its intermediate host.

That means the worm DNA she detected wasn’t a mistake at all—she had unintentionally uncovered a symbiotic parasite–host relationship within her sample.

Arushi’s unexpected finding has opened the door to a brand‑new research opportunity. Next year, the Biotechnology Research program plans to launch a project dedicated to tracking how often this worm appears in local pillbug populations.

In science, no data goes to waste—and Arushi’s curiosity turned an accidental discovery into an exciting new direction for research.