For the first time, scientists have managed to induce virgin birth in an animal that usually reproduces sexually: the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
Once induced in this fruit fly, this ability is passed on through the generations: The offspring can reproduce either sexually if there are males around, or by virgin birth if there aren’t.
For most animals, reproduction is sexual—it involves a female’s egg being fertilized by a male’s sperm. Virgin birth, or “parthenogenesis,” is the process by which an egg develops into an embryo without fertilization by sperm—a male is not needed.
The offspring of a virgin birth are not exact clones of their mother but are genetically very similar, and are always female.
“We’re the first to show that you can engineer virgin births to happen in an animal—it was very exciting to see a virgin fly produce an embryo able to develop to adulthood, and then repeat the process,” said Dr. Alexis Sperling, a researcher at the University of Cambridge and first author of the paper.
2023-07-29 21:24:03
Original from phys.org
