
Supersoldier ants created in the lab by reactivating ancestral genes - g3orge
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-supersoldier-ants-lab-reactivating-ancestral.html
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mikk0j
Summary: certain ant species are shown to carry latent genes that produce
supersoldier ants. This can be activated with hormones, or importantly, by
certain nutritional or environmental conditions, even in species that are not
known to produce supersoldiers normally. This implies applications elsewhere
(for example, crops) where beneficial latent traits could be activated.

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cvshepherd
"The treated larvae grew to become large headed and jawed ants resembling
supersoldiers."

If you gave a normal cat growth hormones, it might resemble a tiger. That
doesn't mean it is one. That was the basis of my summary. I don't want to
ridicule the research, and agree that this could have beneficial applications.

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ars
You missed a section:

'....normally develop into soldiers or workers depending on the levels of the
"juvenile hormone": if levels are high the ants become soldiers, while if they
are low they become the smaller worker ants. In the species that produce
supersoldiers there is a second high threshold of the juvenile hormone, above
which the larvae develop into the larger supersoldiers.'

If you gave a normal cat unchecked growth hormones it would not resemble a
tiger - it would die. Its body is not designed to be that large - look at case
reports of humans with growth disorders, they have all sorts of very serious
issues simply from being larger than designed.

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cvshepherd
I don't see what I've supposedly missed. And my remark about the cat was just
an example of things not necessarily being what they look like.

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ars
What you missed is that this hormone does not just generate disorganized
growth (i.e. things grow but not necessarily in a way that properly supports
the larger size).

Rather this hormone triggers a third type of development in this species,
where the larger size of the animal is properly matched with a new type of
behavior.

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cvshepherd
Summary: Treating ant larvae with growth hormones, produces big ants.

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carbocation
That's not a very good summary, as it glosses over the fact that these
hormones are evidently activating a latent mechanism for producing a specific
class of ant body fulfilling a niche role. They aren't just proportionately
larger ants.

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cvshepherd
See my comment on the other summary.

