Prospector

Fruitfly Wings

Fruitfly wings

Speaking of genetics...
I like this picture of fruit fly wings. It is from an article in Astrobiology Magazine "How The Fruitfly Got Its Spots"
It says, "To the ladies, the spots - waved frenetically by suitors in the fruit fly courtship ritual - connote sex appeal. "
Scientists studying the changes in the wing decorations of the fruitflies think that they have found convincing evidence of the mechanism of Darwin's Theory of evolution:
It is, says Carroll, convincing proof that evolution occurs as accidental mutations create features - a spot here or a stripe there - that confer advantages in attracting mates, hiding from or confusing predators, or gaining access to food. The mutations are preserved, according to the Nature report, as changes in a few of the millions of nucleotides - the chemical building blocks of DNA.

Here's the link: http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1446.html

posted by Prospector @ 7:08 AM