Posted on 11/19/2006 3:47:25 PM PST by ritewingwarrior
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a study that sheds light on the biology of aggression, scientists swapped genes in gender-bending fruit flies to make boys fight like girls and girls fight like boys.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna focused on a gene in fruit flies dubbed "fruitless," an important player in behavioral differences between the sexes of these insects.
The gene is known for its role in male courtship, but also controls another sex-specific behavior -- how flies fight, according to the research appearing on Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
When they fight, female fruit flies rely on maneuvers like shoving and head butts to an opponent's body. Males use tactics that include lunging, boxing and rearing up on their back legs and snapping down their forelegs to flatten an adversary.
The researchers swapped the male and female versions of the gene in fruit flies and observed the consequences. Males with the feminine gene used female fighting tactics, while the females with the masculine gene fought like the boys.
People have a lot to learn about the biological basis of aggression, said Harvard neurobiologist Edward Kravitz, one of the study's authors.
"It goes without saying aggression, as well as violence, in society is a serious problem. It has to have biological roots. And the biological roots will have genetic components and experiential components," Kravitz said in an interview.
It is important to learn about such complex behaviors in a simple organism, and then apply this knowledge to higher and higher forms while ultimately trying to gain insight into human behavior, Kravitz said.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
Finally we have a study that begins to justify violence as being a genetic flaw. Lets turn all our prisons into hospitals to help these people.
I don't have to /s off do i?
What about the biological basis of bulls**t???
What about the gene that causes certain Fruit Flys to spin on door knobs?
Fruit flies fight? Who knew?
This article is another example of their anthropocentric and circular logic.
"scientists swapped genes in gender-bending fruit flies to make boys fight like girls and girls fight like boys."
All I've got to say is...Why?
Money is the true driving force.
Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas. - Groucho Marx
Now that's something I could gone without seeing. thanks :p
Now here we are.. dissing girly flies...
Digger, help me out please, you know my eyes...which one in the picture is the fly.....:)
Queer fruit flies are called queer cause they are..
sorry, I guess I stopped reading at "gender-bending fruit"
Huh?
Don't tell the feminists. They'll model the public schools after the fruit fly colony. Actually, there's no need. They're accomplishing their aims of feminizing men beyond what they ever thought possible.
People have a lot to learn about the biological basis of aggression, said Harvard neurobiologist Edward Kravitz, one of the study's authors. "It goes without saying aggression, as well as violence, in society is a serious problem. It has to have biological roots. And the biological roots will have genetic components and experiential components," Kravitz said in an interview.
Thanks for asking. It is patently absurd but common for materialists, to say such a thing as "aggressions's basis is found in biology." How do they know? Did they put it there?
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