Related topics: current biology · fruit flies

How mechanical tearing cuts neural connections in the fruit fly

Scientists from the Institute of Neuro- and Behavioral Biology at Münster University have been studying the regulated removal of neural connections in the model system of the Drosophila fruit fly. They find that mechanical ...

Exercise curbs insulin production in fruit flies

Insulin is an essential hormone for humans and many other living creatures. Its best-known task is to regulate sugar metabolism. How it does this job is well understood. Much less is known about how the activity of insulin-producing ...

Research reveals fruit fly circadian clock mechanisms

The higher the temperatures, the faster physiological processes are. But there is an exception: the so-called circadian clock, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle in organisms. A fascinating question for scientists is why ...

How cells find the right partners

During the growth and development of living organisms, different types of cells must come into contact with each other in order to form tissues and organs together. A small team working with Prof. Dr. Anne Classen of the ...

'Kipferl': Guiding the defense against jumping genes

A large part of our DNA is made up of selfish repetitive DNA elements, some of which can jump from one site in the genome to another, potentially damaging the genome. Researchers from the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology ...

Young genes found to adapt faster than old ones

A new study from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön and the University of Sussex in the UK shows that the age of a gene determines how fast they adapt. These findings demonstrate how gene evolution ...

A window into the fruit fly's nervous system

Scientists at EPFL have developed an implantation technique that allows unprecedented optical access to the "spinal cord" of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. This work can potentially lead to breakthroughs in the fields ...

CRISPR-based technology targets global crop pest

Applying new CRISPR-based technology to a broad agricultural need, researchers at the University of California San Diego have set their aims on a worldwide pest known to decimate valuable food crops.

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