Scientists discover gene switch responsible for flight muscle formation

Flies are real flight artists, although they only have small wings compared to their body size. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich, Germany, recently identified the genetic switch that regulates the formation of flight muscles. 'The gene spalt is essential for the generation of the ultrafast super muscles,' emphasises Frank Schnorrer, head of the research group 'Muscle Dynamics.' 'Without spalt, the fly builds only normal leg muscles instead of flight muscles.' The scientists' results have now been published in Nature...

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