A Fruit Fly Larva's Developing Antenna (IMAGE)

Duke University

A Fruit Fly Larva's Developing Antenna

Caption

Concentric rings in a fruit fly larva's antenna result from a set of genetic control "switches" that interact early in a fly's development to generate dozens of types of specialized nerve cells for smell. The Duke researchers who made this discovery say it may help explain how a relatively small number of genes can create the dazzling array of different cell types found in human brains and the nervous systems in other animals.

Credit

Photo by Tristan Qingyun Li, Duke University

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