Fruit Fly Aggression Studies Have Relevance to Animal, Human Populations

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of 'fruit fly agression.'--Dictynna

Even the tiny, mild-mannered fruit fly can be a little mean sometimes – especially when there’s a choice bit of rotten fruit to fight over. And, like people, some flies have shorter tempers than others.

Researchers in the North Carolina Sate University genetics department have identified a suite of genes that affect aggression in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, pointing to new mechanisms that could contribute to abnormal aggression in humans and other animals.