This web page was produced as an assignment for Genetics 677, an undergraduate course at UW-Madison
Genderblind Mutants Have Accelerated Bang Recovery
Researchers from the University of Illinois - Chicago have discovered that the genderblind gene in flies that causes male fruit flies to exhibit bisexual behaviors, also gives the flies increased abilities compared to non-mutant flies. Genderblind mutant flies have what has been dubbed "accelerated bang recovery". Flies are generally kept in glass vials or jars in which they tend to sit on the sides. Bang recovery refers to how long it takes for the flies to get back to their original position on the side of the glass after the glass has been "banged" on a lab bench to knock the flies to the bottom. The flies with a mutation in the genderblind gene have been shown to recover more quickly than those without the mutation.
This finding is important because it shows that the genderblind gene carries an important trait for flies. In natural selection genes are selected against (gotten rid of) if they do not help the species. A gene that causes bisexual or homosexual behaviors should be selected against because it would decrease the amount of offspring an organism has. However since this gene also confers accelerated bang recovery which can be important in evading predators, it makes the mere presence of the genderblind gene make more sense.
A graph showing the data from the accelerated bang recovery experiment. The genderblind non-mutant flies are labeled 'Wild Type' and the mutant flies are labeled 'gb[KG07905]. As you can see the genderblind mutant flies recover at speeds more than double the non-mutant flies.
Reference
Featherstone, David D. "Accelerated Bang Recovery in Drosophila Genderblind Mutants." Commun Integr Biol 1.1 (2008): 14-17. Print.