FRUIT FLIES AGE FASTER AFTER SEEING DEATH

FRUIT FLIES THAT SAW OTHER FLIES’ CORPSES DIED SOONER THAN THEIR PEERS. SCIENTISTS LOOKED INTO THEIR PINT-SIZED BRAINS TO IDENTIFY THE CLUSTER OF NEURONS RESPONSIBLE.

—ALEX ORLANDO

COMING TO terms with death isn’t easy — even if you’re an insect that’s little more than an eighth of an inch in size. For fruit flies, or Drosophila melanogaster, the mere sight of their companion’s corpses can trigger certain cues known to alter their brain chemistry, deplete fat stores, and even cause other flies to avoid them, as if the traumatized insects still carried the stench of death. What’s more, scientists from the University of Michigan have found that fruit flies who witness their dead comrades age faster and die sooner. They’ve peered inside the insects’ pintsized brains to better understand what happens when fruit flies are exposed to death, according to a 2023 study in PLOS Biology. The research may have implications for pausing the clock on human aging triggered…

You're reading a preview of

Discover (Digital) - 1 Issue, July/August 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.