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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Bait and Switch"
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THE BIRDS AND THE BEES--AND THE WORMS... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. NEMATODE WORMS PROBABLY DON'T SIT AROUND THINKING ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION. BUT, BIOLOGISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH DID. THEY'RE STUDYING AND MANIPULATING THE SEXUAL IDENTITY OF THESE ONE-MILLIMETER, NO-EYED DIRT-DWELLERS. RESEARCHERS STUDY NEMATODES BECAUSE MUCH OF THEIR GENETIC MAKEUP IS SIMILAR TO OURS. BUT, THEY CAUTION NOT TO READ TOO MUCH INTO THEIR WORK, BY MAKING DIRECT INFERENCES ABOUT HUMAN SEXUALITY; WE'RE SLIGHTLY MORE COMPLICATED. SINCE NEMATODES HAVE NO EYES, THEY MUST RELY ON SMELL IN ORDER TO SNIFF OUT A MATE. NORMALLY, FEMALE NEMATODES MOVE AWAY FROM THE SCENT OF OTHER FEMALES. BUT, WHEN THE SCIENTISTS ACTIVATED GENES THAT DETERMINE MALENESS IN THE BRAIN, FEMALE NEMATODES BEGAN TO ACT AND THINK LIKE BOYS--AND BECAME ATTRACTED TO THE FEMALES' SCENT. THE RESEARCHERS CONCLUDE THAT SEXUAL ATTRACTION IS WIRED INTO BRAIN CIRCUITS IN THE WORMS; THIS RAISES THE POSSIBILITY, THEY SAY, THAT SEXUAL PREFERENCE IN HUMANS IS ALSO WIRED IN THE BRAIN. BUT, AGAIN, HUMANS ARE MORE COMPLEX THAN NEMATODES--DESPITE THE NUMBER OF TIMES THAT YOU MAY HAVE BEEN OUT WITH A REAL "WORM". THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
