Rockefeller researchers study fruit fly interbreeding

Scientists from Rockefeller University have uncovered how animals have evolved to prevent interbreeding. According to their findings, male fruit flies are repulsed by the pheromones given off by females that are from a different genus. In order to understand why this happened, the scientists had to design new techniques to map the neurons of a rarely studied type of fruit flies. Ultimately, the researchers found that this was controlled entirely by a small part of the flies’ brains, meaning the rest of their physiology was unchanged.

Rockefeller University is a NYSERNet member institution.