

Fly offspring can resemble mother's previous sexual partner - mxfh
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/ghosts-of-mothers-sexual-past-show-up-in-fly-offspring-study-shows-20141001-10onn3.html

======
mxfh
Linked to that article since it's linked directly by the University of New
South Wales

[http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science/semen-secrets-
how-p...](http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science/semen-secrets-how-previous-
sexual-partner-can-influence-another-male%E2%80%99s-offspring)

Otherwise, see what one could achieve by leaving out the flies in the headline
altogether, leave it to the Brits:

 _Your baby looks like your ex? This research is scarier than Alien_
[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/baby-
lo...](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/baby-looks-like-
ex-research)

 _Could previous lovers influence appearance of future children?_
[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-
news/11133203/Cou...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-
news/11133203/Could-previous-lovers-influence-appearance-of-future-
children.html)

So I guess we just made it half-way through the science news cycle:
[http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1174](http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1174)

------
etiam
Article abstract and (paywalled?) full text here:
[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12373/abstrac...](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12373/abstract)

Interesting if it holds up and is widely applicable. Spontaneously it strikes
me that it might have important consequences for female promiscuity.

~~~
anigbrowl
Potentially dangerously negative consequences:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegony_(pregnancy)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegony_\(pregnancy\))
(although this article badly needs a rewrite, I assume the external references
are legit).

~~~
001sky
Yeah, that wikiperida is sketch.

"According to Encyclopedia Britannica, telegony is now classed as
superstition.[3]"

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cmdrfred
This is more amazing than the title makes it sound. This isn't talking about
the "Father" of the fly, but a sperm that entered the egg after it was
fertilized. Non-genetic inheritance... very interesting. I hope it can be
replicated.

~~~
justizin
Is that what it says? It seemed to suggest that young eggs could be
contaminated by a sperm long before they are eventually fertilized.

It's unclear to me what 'contaminated' means here, but I'm not a biologist.

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rgrieselhuber
I read this as "that offspring is fly."

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justin_l
Double-edged sword. On the one hand, I'm only going to marry a virgin now. On
the other hand, there might already be kids walking around out there who
resemble me.

~~~
justin_l
lol ok I guess I deserved that.

More seriously, I love research like this that challenges existing
understanding. Of course, if it holds true for humans this certainly opens up
a Pandora's Box of sorts (which is what I was aiming for in the above
comment).

