The fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) has been among the favourite organisms of genetics researchers for more than a hundred years. Many years of intense research with these diminutive creatures have led to many breakthroughs in our understanding of biology and evolution.
Recently, researchers from Cambridge University and the California Institute of Technology reported yet another such breakthrough. They were able to ‘engineer’ a sexually reproducing fruit-fly species to reproduce asexually, demonstrating the profound biological consequences of relatively minor genetic manipulation. The first study that reported this significant feat was published in July 2023; a follow-up study to it was published in the February 2024 issue of Heredity.
The Drosophila family
