Roach Encroach: How we made cockroaches the ultimate pest

German cockroaches are notorious for making themselves at home in our kitchens and bathrooms, but how did they become such persistent pests? Dr. Kaylee Byers and Sarah Lando explore the fascinating genomics behind this unwanted guest—and why we’re partly to blame. Resources: 1. Solving the 250-year-old mystery of the origin and global spread of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica – PNAS 2. The world's most common cockroach is 'a monster of our own creation,' study finds - CBC 3. German Cockroach – Rutgers 4. Prevalence of Cockroaches, Bed Bugs, and House Mice in Low-Income Housing and Evaluation of Baits for Monitoring House Mouse Infestations – Journal of Medical Entomology

You can listen to Roach Encroach: How we made cockroaches the ultimate pest online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Roach Encroach: How we made cockroaches the ultimate pest is an episode from Nice Genes! by JAR Audio.

This episode is 6:47 long.

This episode was published on Aug 5, 2025.

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