Researchers at Lund University have mapped nearly the entire genome of a carnivorous banana fly using a museum specimen. The species Drosophila enhydrobia has not been seen in the wild since 1981.
The fly's larvae live in fast-flowing African waters and feed on other insects. By dipping the old specimen in a solution, the researchers were able to extract DNA without destroying it.
They have thereby gained access to about 96 percent of the genome. This makes it possible to identify genetic changes that occurred when the fly switched from being a fruit eater to a predator.
Marcus Stensmyr, a biology researcher at Lund University who led the study, describes the method as a time machine. It can be used to study how agriculture, toxins and pollutants have affected animals' genomes over time.
The researchers are now also examining historical specimens of butterflies and other insects using the same technique.