A supersoldier next to a normal ant: Scientists say they can create the supersoldiers at will by dabbing normal ant larvae with a special hormone - the larvae then develop into supersoldiers rather than normal soldier or worker ants
Posted on 01/05/2012 6:18:26 PM PST by null and void
Nightmarish 'supersoldier' ants with huge heads and jaws have been created by activating ancient genes.
A supersoldier next to a normal ant: Scientists say they can create the supersoldiers at will by dabbing normal ant larvae with a special hormone - the larvae then develop into supersoldiers rather than normal soldier or worker ants
Supersoldier ants can occur naturally in the wild, but only rarely. In the deserts of America and Mexico, their job is to protect the colony from raids by invading army ants.
The supersoldiers use their enormous heads to block the nest entrance and attack any enemy ants that get too close.
Scientists showed that ordinary ants of the species Pheidole morrisi contain all the genetic 'tools' needed to turn them into supersoldiers - they just need a hormonal push.
The research is reported today in the journal Science.
Scientists created the monster ants in the laboratory by activating ancient ancestral genes
Authors Dr Rajendhran Rajakumar, from McGill University, Canada, and colleagues wrote: 'We uncovered an ancestral development potential to produce a novel supersoldier subcaste that has been retained throughout a hyperdiverse ant genus that evolved 35 to 60 million years ago.'
The results suggest that holding on to ancestral development toolkits may play an important role in evolving new physical traits, say the researchers.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Actually, just the other day I mentioned to Mrs Bear that I could really use a few school bus size ants.
Were nuclear bomb tests involved? If so, I’ve already seen this.
Best to just keep it to yourself, or everybody will want one.
The last thing we need right now is a growing demand for school bus sized ants. Some venture capitalist and investors will hire some scientists and look to fulfill the market demand. Then, before you know it, they’ll be everywhere!
Oh and Frankenstein only had two legs.
Get it?
That would lead to competitively priced school bus sized ants? Let me at em!
So....all of those times, as a kids, that we disturbed an ant hill to get them to respond, then crisped them with a magnifying glass......this is going to hurt.
Do not wANT.
You found out my secret recipe for "gettin bigger"!
Now this goes right up there with never poking anything from outer space with a stick. Never go setting off atom bombs around ant heaps! Oh sure, it looks like fun at first, one or two detonations but after one too many... well land sakes, just LOOK WHAT HAPPENS!!
keyboard spew alert
keyboard spew alert... MEGA
Sie wollen mein Herz am rechten Fleck
doch seh' ich dann nach unten weg,
dann schlägt es links.
Dude, that is one big head!
I read all of that, and I still became a scientist.
Learning science doesn't make people evil.
Here, the scientists didn't even do anything particularly earth-shattering. All they did was to induce some ants to express genes that are normally silent.
I was thinking the same thing. Someone needs to tell Mooshelle, that’s not moisturizer she’s been rubbing on her butt.
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