According to Science Daily, a research team headed by University of California, Davis professor Charles H. Langley has documented evidence of natural selection in fruit flies, also known as Drosophila melanogaster. Like humans, fruit flies originated in Africa tens of thousands of years ago. Similarly, while genetically diverse populations of fruit flies still exist in Africa, many distinct lines of fruit flies now exist in every part of the world. Some fruit flies have evolved to adapt to certain specialized environments. For example, a certain strain of fruit fly makes its home near breweries. Overall, Langley’s research describes the genomes of over 200 strains of D. melanogaster.
D. melanogaster is a model organism that is often used to study genetics. Because fruit flies produce many offspring and go through many generations in a short amount of time, these tiny insects are often used for genetic research. Langley and his colleagues hoped that their work on D. melanogaster would be used as a precursor to studying natural selection and genetic variation in humans. Langley’s team is not the first one who proposed using D. melanogaster to learn about human evolution; other scientists have chosen the same path in the past.
What is most interesting about Langley’s research is that the mixing of D. melanogaster populations mirrors the mixing of human populations in the world. Due to globalization and advances in technology, human beings are more mobile than before. Many people have chosen to settle in places that are far away from the lands of their grandparents. Likewise, technology and globalism has allowed – unintentionally, of course – European fruit flies to travel to Africa and meet their distant cousins. Perhaps further study on the genetic variation and natural selection of fruit flies will give hints about the history of the human race.
It was interesting to read about the diversity of Drosophila melanogaster. In the final paragraph, you mentioned that globalization and technology may allow European fruit flies to travel to Africa and mate with the flies present there. Do you think the progeny of a cross between African and European fruit flies would be at a disadvantage in the African environment or by having a more diverse genetic would allow it to thrive?
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