5 ms·

Fly offspring can resemble mother's previous sexual partner

47 points by mxfh 12y ago

rgrieselhuber 12y ago
I read this as "that offspring is fly."
cmdrfred 12y ago
This is more amazing than the title makes it sound. This isn't talking about the "Father" of the fly, but a sperm that entered the egg after it was fertilized. Non-genetic inheritance... very interesting. I hope it can be replicated.
- justizin 12y ago
  Is that what it says? It seemed to suggest that young eggs could be contaminated by a sperm long before they are eventually fertilized. It's unclear to me what 'contaminated' means here, but I'm not a biologist.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
etiam 12y ago
Article abstract and (paywalled?) full text here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12373/abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12373/abstrac... Interesting if it holds up and is widely applicable. Spontaneously it strikes me that it might have important consequences for female promiscuity.
- anigbrowl 12y ago
  Potentially dangerously negative consequences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegony_(pregnancy) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegony_(pregnancy) (although this article badly needs a rewrite, I assume the external references are legit).
  - 001sky 12y ago
    Yeah, that wikiperida is sketch. "According to Encyclopedia Britannica, telegony is now classed as superstition.[3]"
mxfh 12y ago
Linked to that article since it's linked directly by the University of New South Wales http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science/semen-secrets-how-previous-sexual-partner-can-influence-another-male%E2%80%99s-offspring http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science/semen-secrets-how-p... Otherwise, see what one could achieve by leaving out the flies in the headline altogether, leave it to the Brits: Your baby looks like your ex? This research is scarier than Alien http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/baby-looks-like-ex-research http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/baby-lo... Could previous lovers influence appearance of future children? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/11133203/Could-previous-lovers-influence-appearance-of-future-children.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/11133203/Cou... So I guess we just made it half-way through the science news cycle: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1174 http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1174
justin_l 12y ago
Double-edged sword. On the one hand, I'm only going to marry a virgin now. On the other hand, there might already be kids walking around out there who resemble me.
- justin_l 12y ago
  lol ok I guess I deserved that. More seriously, I love research like this that challenges existing understanding. Of course, if it holds true for humans this certainly opens up a Pandora's Box of sorts (which is what I was aiming for in the above comment).

47 points by mxfh 12y ago

I read this as "that offspring is fly."

This is more amazing than the title makes it sound. This isn't talking about the "Father" of the fly, but a sperm that entered the egg after it was fertilized. Non-genetic inheritance... very interesting. I hope it can be replicated.

justizin 12y ago
Is that what it says? It seemed to suggest that young eggs could be contaminated by a sperm long before they are eventually fertilized. It's unclear to me what 'contaminated' means here, but I'm not a biologist.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

etiam 12y ago

Article abstract and (paywalled?) full text here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12373/abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12373/abstrac... Interesting if it holds up and is widely applicable. Spontaneously it strikes me that it might have important consequences for female promiscuity.

anigbrowl 12y ago
Potentially dangerously negative consequences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegony_(pregnancy) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegony_(pregnancy) (although this article badly needs a rewrite, I assume the external references are legit).
- 001sky 12y ago
  Yeah, that wikiperida is sketch. "According to Encyclopedia Britannica, telegony is now classed as superstition.[3]"

mxfh 12y ago

Linked to that article since it's linked directly by the University of New South Wales http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science/semen-secrets-how-previous-sexual-partner-can-influence-another-male%E2%80%99s-offspring http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science/semen-secrets-how-p... Otherwise, see what one could achieve by leaving out the flies in the headline altogether, leave it to the Brits: Your baby looks like your ex? This research is scarier than Alien http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/baby-looks-like-ex-research http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/baby-lo... Could previous lovers influence appearance of future children? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/11133203/Could-previous-lovers-influence-appearance-of-future-children.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/11133203/Cou... So I guess we just made it half-way through the science news cycle: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1174 http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1174

justin_l 12y ago

Double-edged sword. On the one hand, I'm only going to marry a virgin now. On the other hand, there might already be kids walking around out there who resemble me.

justin_l 12y ago
lol ok I guess I deserved that. More seriously, I love research like this that challenges existing understanding. Of course, if it holds true for humans this certainly opens up a Pandora's Box of sorts (which is what I was aiming for in the above comment).