A study suggests the Antarctic midge, an insect that spends most of its time frozen in the Antarctic ice, has a very small genome because of its adaptation to its extreme environment.

The Antarctic Midge is a wingless fly that remains frozen in the Antarctic ice for most of its two year larval stage.

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When it reaches adulthood, the insect spends seven and 10 days laying eggs until it dies.

David Denglinger from Ohio State University said the genome of the Antarctic Midge lacks many DNA segments and other repeat elements that don't make protein found in most animal genomes.

Lack of this genome could be the answer to surviving the Antartic's cold, dry conditions, he said.

Denlinger said it would be interesting if other extremophiles like ticks and mites living in the Antarctic would have really small genomes.

This kind of genome was once called a junk DNA because of its DNA segments and repeated elements. These are now known to have functions related to gene regulation, he said.

Researchers found aquaporins, or genes involved in water transport in and out of cells, are important in the insect's survival.

They also found out these insects can survive water loss up to 70 percent. Most insects can only survive a 20 percent water loss.

Delinger said when the insect loses 70 percent of its water, they look like dried up raisins. After being poured with water, they plump up and became merry, he added.

He explained the ability to survive extreme dehydration is the key to surviving in low temperatures.

The midge has mechanisms that enable it to be both dehydrated and alive while its cells function normally.

Delinger believes the Antarctic Midge has figured out how to preserve its tissues for a long time. He said having heat-shock proteins turned on all the time might be the key to preserving their tissues.