Genetically Modified Giant Ants of the Day: Researchers at Canada’s McGill University have figured out how to create giant-headed “supersoldier” ants in a lab by treating regular ants with a dose of hormone.
The hormone unlocks a gene that appears to be a throwback to the ants’ ancestors, who may have used their enlarged heads and mandibles to protect the nest and crack seeds.
“What we are showing for the first time is there is this ancestral potential sitting there, and when poked by the environment it can really unleash this potential that can power evolution,” said the study’s senior researcher, Ehab Abouheif.
It can apparently also power nightmares and flashbacks to the movie Them!, but the McGill team forgot to mention that in their study.
[huffpo]
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