For the first time, scientists have induced facultative parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction, in an animal that usually reproduces sexually.
Commonly referred to as a "virgin birth," most animals who reproduce this way are small invertebrates, or sometimes, long isolated, such as in a zoo. As detailed in a study published today in the journal Current Biology, scientists were able to identify a genetic cause for virgin birth in one species of fruit fly and turn it on in another.
