Two indoor fruit fly watches

2005/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Genetika

Man is not the only being who lives under biological clocks. In fact, most animals have internal clocks that help them adapt to cycles of light and darkness of 24 hours. New studies with fruit flies have shown that these insects have two cell clocks instead of one.

Like other dawning animals, flies have two peaks of activity: one at sunrise and one at sunset. In these sections the flies are dedicated to both the coating and the search for food. In the rest of the time, on the contrary, fruit flies have very little activity. But how do flies control this changing activity?

Recently two French and American research groups have taken a big step forward in the discovery of the biological clock of fruit flies. These two groups, using different strategies, have come to the same conclusion: fruit flies have two internal clocks in the brain, one to control day and night activities. This discovery can help to know our internal clock. According to scientists, like flies, mammals, including humans, can have two biological clocks.