William Murray
BI242
Professor DiStefano
September 20, 2014
Tracking the OCD gene
As proven in many studies, genetics can have a great impact in our social behavior. For example, I recently participated on a study in fly courtship. We set out to find the impact on the amount of courtship of changing a different genes effecting fly behavior. We compared the courtship index between normal wild type flies to curly wing flies, FraxE flies, and flies with a change in the lilli gene. We did this by setting up normal flies in a confined space and observed the amount of time they spent courting a wild type female. We hypothesized that curly wing flies would have difficulty courting past the flapping of its wings to create a “love song”. The FraxE flies are model organisms of a mutation that causes mental retardation and various behavioral problems. We did not expect very much courtship at all in this group. Lilli flies were similar to the FraxE model except they had the protein that was lost with the mutation placed roughly 50% back into them. We thought the flies with this mutation would have more courtship then the FraxE but less than the curly wing fly. In the end we were unable to find any significant …show more content…
A study published in Nature Medicine journal linked obsessive compulsive behavior in rats to a deficiency in Slitrk5 gene. The researchers observed the amount of time normal mice spent grooming compared to the mice with the slitrk5 gene deficiency. The mice with the deficiency spent a significant amount of more time grooming itself. They next tested mice with the deficiency but were treated for it compared to normal mice(3). They found that the slitrk5 treated mice went back down to a normal amount of time grooming. This helps to justify that it is specifically the slitrk5 gene affecting the mice and not other
BI242
Professor DiStefano
September 20, 2014
Tracking the OCD gene
As proven in many studies, genetics can have a great impact in our social behavior. For example, I recently participated on a study in fly courtship. We set out to find the impact on the amount of courtship of changing a different genes effecting fly behavior. We compared the courtship index between normal wild type flies to curly wing flies, FraxE flies, and flies with a change in the lilli gene. We did this by setting up normal flies in a confined space and observed the amount of time they spent courting a wild type female. We hypothesized that curly wing flies would have difficulty courting past the flapping of its wings to create a “love song”. The FraxE flies are model organisms of a mutation that causes mental retardation and various behavioral problems. We did not expect very much courtship at all in this group. Lilli flies were similar to the FraxE model except they had the protein that was lost with the mutation placed roughly 50% back into them. We thought the flies with this mutation would have more courtship then the FraxE but less than the curly wing fly. In the end we were unable to find any significant …show more content…
A study published in Nature Medicine journal linked obsessive compulsive behavior in rats to a deficiency in Slitrk5 gene. The researchers observed the amount of time normal mice spent grooming compared to the mice with the slitrk5 gene deficiency. The mice with the deficiency spent a significant amount of more time grooming itself. They next tested mice with the deficiency but were treated for it compared to normal mice(3). They found that the slitrk5 treated mice went back down to a normal amount of time grooming. This helps to justify that it is specifically the slitrk5 gene affecting the mice and not other