If this isn't mad science,
Sep. 18th, 2002 12:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camwynI don't know what is...
When flies get fruity
BBC World News - Scientists can turn the homosexual tendencies of laboratory flies on and off at the flick of a switch.
Researchers introduced a mutant gene into the fruit flies that is sensitive to temperature.
When the insects were warmed above 30 Celsius, communication between a particular set of nerve cells was disrupted.
This made the mutant males less interested in courting female flies and open to the advances of other males.
The flies reverted back to heterosexual courtship behaviours at cooler temperatures.
There's more, of course; the rest of it is at the link above.
When flies get fruity
BBC World News - Scientists can turn the homosexual tendencies of laboratory flies on and off at the flick of a switch.
Researchers introduced a mutant gene into the fruit flies that is sensitive to temperature.
When the insects were warmed above 30 Celsius, communication between a particular set of nerve cells was disrupted.
This made the mutant males less interested in courting female flies and open to the advances of other males.
The flies reverted back to heterosexual courtship behaviours at cooler temperatures.
There's more, of course; the rest of it is at the link above.
