Fruit Fly聽Focus
Spring 2012 · Comment ·
To most people, flies are pests. To Esther Betr谩n, they鈥檙e fascinating creatures (and only sometimes pests). The biology associate professor is examining the genomic structure of Drosophila, or fruit flies, for clues about the way male reproductive functions evolve. She has proposed a scientific model in which gene duplications rapidly change the function and characteristics of the flies鈥� testes tissue while leaving the genes that contribute to the characteristics of other tissues unchanged. If proved correct, her model could shift how scientists believe 鈥渟exually antagonistic conflicts鈥濃�攚hen a gene鈥檚 expression is good for one sex but not for another鈥攁re resolved in the genome. The National Institutes of Health awarded Dr. Betr谩n a grant worth nearly $670,000 for her research.