Rarely seen, fruit fly fights can reach a high level of aggression when the animals box (top left), wrestle and tussle. Mid-level aggressive moves are more common (top middle), such as the close chase by the winning fly on the right and the defensive wing threat by the loser on the left. Most fights are decided by low-level aggressive moves, such as a wings-up display (top right), charging, or a limb lifted to the side. The research team of undergraduates Selby Chen, Ann Lee, Nina Bowens (not pictured), and professor Ed Kravitz has scored dozens of fights between fruit flies, hoping to gain more insight into genes underlying aggressive behavior. Images of flies courtesy of Ed Kravitz. Photo by Steve Gilbert |
The fruit fly fight clubStudy of fruit flies facilities research on neurobiology of aggressionNovember 30, 2001Fruit flies fight. The males will go after each other, fighting to establish dominance. Edward Kravitz, the George Packer Berry professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, is using the fighting fruit fly model system to explore the neurobiology of aggression. Previously Kravitz has used fighting lobsters to study changes in the brain that occur after fights. While it may sound fanciful, Kravitz's work is serious. "Aggression is a serious problem in society, but even after studies of lots of animal models for many years, we don't know a lot about the biological basis of aggression," Kravitz said. "We know that some chemicals like serotonin are very important, but beyond that, much remains to be discovered." He does know that the outcomes of fights have an effect on the brain chemistry of lobsters. "We don't know how, but the business of being beaten clearly has a dramatic effect on the life of a lobster," Kravitz said. "After a fight, one becomes dominant, the other subordinate. ... After a half hour of fighting in lobsters, animals can remember for up to a week who is a winner and who is a loser ...." |
