Ahh, the amazing fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) has done it again. Researchers at the University of Kansas have turned to caffeine to help identify which genes in flies have become resistant to insecticides. The reason the researchers used caffeine is because it is a common surrogate for xenobiotics in lab cultures. The researchers tested 1,700 lines of fruit flies and successfully mapped out ten loci that could potentially describe how these flies are resistance. From these ten loci, the researchers further identified Cyp12d1-d and Cyp12d1-p as the main genes that are responsible for over ten percent of the variation in fruit flies that lead to resistance to insecticides. Based on these findings, the researchers have stated that this method can be used to identify genes that lead to resistance to virtually any drug.
Reading this article has made me question how far this research can go. Specifically, how valid these gene identifications will be in the future. I feel like gene mutation is a major component in evolution; therefore, these recently identified genes will change in the future and other genes may be responsible for resistance. Also, this article was a little brief; I wish there was more content because it would make the topic a little clearer, especially about the actual methods of how the genes were identified. All in all, this is a fascinating concept that can revolutionize the insecticide industry.
Original Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140327101417.htm
More on Insecticide Resistance: http://grapes.msu.edu/integrated_pest_management/how_pesticide_resistance_develops
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