13.1 RNA
13.2 Ribosomes and Protein Synthesis
13.3 Mutations
13.4 Gene Regulation and Expression
MOUSE-EYED FLY
It was definitely not a science fiction movie. The animal in the laboratory was real. Besides having two forward-looking eyes, it also had eyes on its knees and eyes on its hind legs. It even had eyes in the back of its head! Yet as strange as it looked, this animal was not a monster. It was simply a fruit fly with eyes in very strange places. These eyes looked like the fly's normal compound eyes, but a mouse gene transplanted into the fly's DNA had produced them. How could a mouse gene produce extra eyes in a fly?
As you read this chapter, look for clues to explain how a gene that normally controls the growth of eyes in mice could possibly cause a fly to grow extra eyes in unusual places. Then, solve the mystery.
Never Stop Exploring Your World.
Finding the solution to the mouse-eyed fly is only the beginning. Take a video field trip with the ecogeeks of Untamed Science to see where this mystery leads.