Mosquitos lost an essential gene with no ill effects

(University of Maryland) University of Maryland scientists discovered mosquitos are missing a gene that's critical for survival in other insects. Alys Jarvela noticed the missing gene and went on the hunt to find out how mosquitos survive without it. She identified the first example of nature swapping out closely related genes, a phenomenon that poses caveats for studies using model organisms as proxies for other species. The research was published September 30, 2020, in Communications Biology.
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: news