Scientists identify mechanism that can prolong life in ‘Indy’ fruit flies

September 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - After sex, female fruit flies ditch the usual siesta in favour of extra foraging and searching for places to lay her eggs, a new study has found. The study showed that it is all down to a chemical or 'sex peptide' produced by male fruit flies.

September 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have come up with new ways to stop by-products from the air we breathe from harming our muscles. Atanu Duttaroy, associate professor of biology at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and colleagues have shown how about 3 percent of the air we breathe gets converted into harmful superoxides, which ultimately harm our muscles.

September 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Like humans, novice fruit flies tend to learn from their more experienced counterparts i.e. mated fruit flies, say researchers.

August 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has shown that female fruit flies prefer keeping sex short and sweet because they get a reproductive boost from shorter intercourse. Since males like sex to last longer, a fight ensues.

August 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The circadian rhythms or biological "clocks" in some insects can make them far more susceptible to pesticides at some times of the day instead of others, reveal researchers at Oregon State University. The scientists said that with further research, they can tap into this genetic characteristic, identify the times that a target insect is most vulnerable to a specific pesticide, and use that information to increase the effectiveness, reduce costs and decrease the amounts of pesticide necessary for insect control.

August 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers have discovered that the circadian rhythms or biological "clocks" in some insects can make them far more susceptible to pesticides at certain times of the day than other. With further research, it may be possible to tap into this genetic characteristic, identify the times that a target insect is most vulnerable to a specific pesticide, and use that information to boost the effectiveness of a pesticide.

August 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study raises the possibility that flies and other insects that encounter nanomaterial "hot spots," or spills, near manufacturing facilities in the future could pick up and transport nanoparticles on their bodies, transferring the particles to other flies or habitats in the environment. The study, by David Rand and Robert Hurt and colleagues, notes that emergence of a nanotechnology industry is raising concerns about the potential adverse health and environmental effects of nanoparticles.

August 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Inspired by how the blow fly's extremely quick eyesight helps to keep it from losing orientation as it makes "lightning-fast" movements to and fro, scientists in Germany have created an unusual research environment. Members of a Munich-based "excellence cluster", called Cognition for Technical Systems (CoTeSys), describe their invention as a flight simulator for flies.

July 31st, 2009 New fruit fly threat in Southern CaliforniaLOS ANGELES — An infestation of the white striped fruit fly has been found in Southern California, marking the first detection of the Southeast Asian agricultural pest in the Western Hemisphere, state authorities said Friday. The California Department of Food and Agriculture said that starting Saturday several thousand traps will be placed in 15 square miles of eastern Los Angeles County in the La Verne area, where seven of the flies were recently found in traps.

July 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A chemical produced by male fruit flies and transferred to females during mating enables the female to tell other males to buzz off. Harvard Medical School (HMS) researchers, along with German colleagues, discovered the chemical pheromone, which they named CH503.

July 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at the Harvard Medical School have discovered a previously unidentified pheromone that contributes to the anti-aphrodisiac effects observed in female fruit flies after copulation. In study, which has been published in Current Biology, Harvard Medical School (HMS) researchers, along with German colleagues, report on a newly discovered pheromone produced by male fruit flies.

July 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a study on fruit flies, scientists have debunked the belief that fasting extends life spans in various organisms, including humans, when they suffer infection. In their study, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine wanted to see if reduced caloric intake also helps creatures cope with infection.

June 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have identified a set of genes that affect aggression in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. By studying male flies from a large panel of lines, which each carry a mutation in a single gene but are otherwise genetically identical, researchers identified particularly angry and particularly placid insects, uncovering 59 mutations in 57 genes that affect aggressive behaviour.

May 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at the University of California, San Diego claim to have identified a mechanism of oxidative stress that prevents cellular damage. "We may drink pomegranate juice to protect our bodies from so-called 'free radicals' or look at restricting calorie intake to extend our lifespan," said Dr Trey Ideker, chief of the Division of Genetics in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego's School of Medicine and professor of bioengineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

March 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at Caltech University, US, have discovered that fruit flies have evolved a specialized population of neurons in their antennae that let them know not only when the wind is blowing, but also the direction from which it is coming. The behavior of fruit flies in the face of a stiff breeze is remarkable in and of itself, according to David J.