Gene switch causes female flies to sing like males

Read more: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13728-female-flies-lose-their-heads-to-...

Gene switch and decapitation make female fruit flies "sing" like a male.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• fruit
• flies
• male
• female
• sing
• decapitation
• headless
• new
• scientist
• newscientist

[dafttool]

"All you need to do is turn on one gene and chop her head off..." hehe That's messed up.

[1godlessmonkey]

could homosexuality be a genetic disorder????

[0nemest0]

Hi, I am a student in all ap classes who is not a

complete idiot.

have a nice day =)

[KoewlBag]

I didn't know flies made any noise other than buzzing. Pretty cool stuff.

[argbarb8]

well now i have seen fruit fly sex....

[iberollin]

This is... Sick. The results are kind of interesting, but these scientists chopping off heads and mixing genes... Doesn't feel right.

[plmnko0]

true

[giansideros]

actually I am studying genetics too...2nd year bachelors, fruit flies do have a lot of genes, 13,767 according to flybase (many of which are novel), we actually use them because they display mendelian inheritance patterns in many of their traits, as well as their short breeding cycle and being a eukaryote with remarkable similarity to us. Fruit flies have been studied long before the discovery of DNA, so it's really many factors to be considered not just the knowledge surrounding their genome.

[plmnko0]

gian a am a student in an AP class and we r preparing to do an experiment with fruit fly genetics. reason we use fruit flies is because they dont have many genes and we already have mapped most to all of their genomes =) have a nice day =)

[wateva1993]

i respect u for ur honesty

[PeterJeq]

Abnormality maybe? (bit harsh, i know). Nare, im sure its probably some psychological issue because where would you get that gene from as you've obviously never descended from someone who's homosexual although you get those genetic mutations..., but to be honest I have no idea what im talking about...

[giansideros]

I actually took the time to read your post again, what the hells your problem defending this douche. He wasn't even asking a question, it was a blatantly pig ignorant smug remark over something he doesn't understand nor care to understand, likewise you're an ass yourself if you really think "it was just a question".

BTW next time you think about appointing yourself as the interwebs police, actually think about what you're gonna say, telling me to pull my head out my ass...ever heard of irony?