Saturday, April 26, 2014

Agression in fruit flies

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/science/to-study-aggression-a-fight-club-for-flies.html?_r=0


This article interestingly looks at a fruit flies brain to study aggression.  The most interesting part of the study is that fruit flies brain is not far from a human’s brain and can be used to potentially learn more about the human brain.  The article begins by stating that males are typically known for their aggression in the animal kingdom as well as fruit flies.  What is interesting “one gene and a tiny group of neurons, sometimes as few as three, present only in the brains of male fruit flies, that can control aggression.”  The gene is also found in mammals and maybe humans.  The quote that is the most striking is how the study is a “striking indication of how brain structure and chemistry work together, as well as a reminder that as different as humans and flies are, they are not always very far apart.”  In addition the study also unintentionally found a connection between flies and mammals for social behavior.  For potential uses the gene could be tested for symptoms like uncontrollable anger that can affect people with illnesses like post-traumatic stress syndrome.  This article is interesting to see the similarity of animals and insects brains to even humans.

Joe



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