11 Nov 2024        13:13:24 pm

Science

Fruit Fly

Tags : Fruit Fly

Topic: Fruit Fly

Why in the news?

• Scientists have announced a milestone in neurobiological research with the mapping of the entire brain of an adult fruit fly, a feat that may provide insight into brains across the animal kingdom, including people. 
• The research detailed more than 50 million connections between more than 139,000 neurons in the insect, a species often used in neurobiological studies. The research sought to decipher how brains are wired and the signals underlying healthy brain functions.

Source: The Hindu 

About Fruit Fly:

• It is a species of fly in the family Drosophilidae. 
• Its other names are lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the \"vinegar fly\", \"pomace fly\", or \"banana fly\".
• Its geographic range includes all continents, including islands.
• It is typically used in research owing to their rapid life cycle, relatively simple genetics with only four pairs of chromosomes, and large number of offspring per generation.
• It\'s also inexpensive to breed and has a short life cycle.
• Many of the genes that control the body pattern in it are similar to those in higher animals, including humans. Because the fly\'s gene set is more economical, a mutation in a single gene often directly reveals the gene\'s function.
• It shares 75% of the genes that cause human diseases. It\'s used in research on human health and disease, including human disease modelling, drug discovery, and regenerative biology.
• It can be used to study evolutionary advantages, such as the reproductive success of polygamous male flies.
• Polygamous male fruit flies have more offspring with genetic diversity, which increases their reproductive success.
• Unlike humans, the sex and physical appearance of fruit flies are not influenced by hormones. The appearance and sex of fruit flies are determined only by genetic information.
• It exhibits sexual dimorphism. Female fruit flies are substantially larger than male fruit flies, with females having bodies that are up to 30% larger than adult males.
• It is yellow-brown, with brick-red eyes and transverse black rings across the abdomen. 

It is polygamous.

• Its lifespan is about 50 days from egg to death.

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