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APPLICATIONS. "Convergence is a new paradigm that can yield critical advances in a broad array of sectors, from health care to energy, food, climate, and water." https://lnkd.in/dEAvzMk View in LinkedIn

FEMALE FLY SWITCH. “On the surface, sexual molecular interactions in Drosophila often appear to function cooperatively. For example, the switch to a reproductive state involves female processing of male-derived molecules that trigger ovulation. SFPs, but not sperm, are also necessary for conformational changes in female anatomy that allow sperm to enter storage.” (SFPs = male seminal fluid proteins). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12763/full View in LinkedIn

TRIGGER OF FEMALE RESPONSE. “Many of these changes are mediated by male seminal fluid proteins (SFPs). It remains an open question to what extent these changes reflect synergy between male and female molecules generating a female's post-mating transition to a reproductive state versus antagonistic interactions fuelled by sexual conflict.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12763/full View in LinkedIn

FLY FEMALE MATING RESPONSE. “This is accompanied by a suite of phenotypic changes, including an immune response, altered feeding behaviour and sleep and activity patterns, and reduced sexual receptivity.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12763/full View in LinkedIn

FRUIT FLY POST COITUS. “Females respond to mating in diverse ways that include physiological, anatomical and behavioural changes. In Drosophila melanogaster, the well-characterized female post-mating response involves changes in expression levels of thousands of genes in both the reproductive tract and elsewhere in the soma, with a strong temporal pattern.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12763/full View in LinkedIn

EJACULATE TRIGGER. “In many species with internal fertilization, molecules transferred in the male ejaculate trigger and interact with physiological changes in females. It is controversial to what extent these interactions between the sexes act synergistically to mediate the female switch to a reproductive state or instead reflect sexual antagonism evolved as a by product of sexual selection on males.” https://lnkd.in/e4e-PaN View in LinkedIn

REPRODUCTIVE PROTEINS. “It is widely established that proteins involved in reproduction diverge between species more quickly than other proteins. For male sperm proteins, rapid divergence is believed to be caused by postcopulatory sexual selection and/or sexual conflict.” https://lnkd.in/eAhHMbJ View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE this weekend contemplates the humble fruit fly, and how coitus radically alters the female in numerous ways. Upon mating, an impressive host of behavioral, physiologic, biochemical and genetic changes ensue. One conclusion is that antagonism dominates male-female interactions. Given that fruit flies and humans share about 60% of genes, it is food for thought, at the very least. https://lnkd.in/euG2VC2 View in LinkedIn

ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESES. “We tested alternative predictions based on the hypotheses that the male–female interactions these genes mediate are mostly synergistic, regulating the switch of female physiology to reproduction, or mostly antagonistic, driven by sexual conflict. The broad pattern of evolutionary change in the expression of genes involved in this interaction, evident in both males and females from populations maintained under enforced monogamy, supports a prevailing role for sexual conflict.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12763/full View in LinkedIn

MASS PRODUCTION. “One of the major goals in synthetic biology is to find a way to industrialise our processes so that we can mass produce these biological factories much in the same way that industries such as car manufacturers mass produce vehicles in a factory line." http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_31-1-2013-12-18-1 View in LinkedIn