WORLD'S FIRST ‘BEHAVIOR TRANSPLANT' BETWEEN SPECIES ACHIEVED

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

Researchers from Nagoya University transferred the courtship behavior from one species of fruit fly to another by manipulating a single gene to create new neural connections. While both species of fly belong to the same family, they have distinct neural circuits that drive very different mating behaviors. The achievement was the culmination of nearly a decade's work by several members of the Japanese team. It is the first-ever example of humans manipulating a single gene to transfer foreign behavior to another species.