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A Genetically Engineered Fly That Can Smell Light

Posted by timothy on from the lsd-way-cheaper dept.

An anonymous reader writes "It sounds like a cool — if somewhat pointless — super-powered insect: a fly that can smell light! Researchers added a light-sensitive protein to a fruit fly's olfactory neurons, which caused the neurons to fire when the fly was exposed to a certain wavelength of blue light. Adding the protein specifically to neurons that respond to good smells, like bananas, makes for a light-seeking fly."

3 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. What a wasted opportunity by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They could've made them think a wavelength smells terrible and then sold fly repellant lightbulbs.

    --
    A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    1. Re:What a wasted opportunity by tpwch · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well think about it. How many generations does it take for a favorable gene to spread trough the population? Give the flies another favorable gene as well as the smell gene, then set them loose to make babies. I read somewhere that it takes 3000-5000 years for humans, but fly generations are much shorter, so maybe we could reap the advantages in our lifetime.

      --
      Posted by a Debian GNU/Linux user
  2. Bonus points... by boredsenseless · · Score: 2, Interesting

    if they call it "smision."