FRUIT flies copulate longer if their biological clock is impaired. It is the first time that 鈥渃lock genes鈥�, which control the sleep-wake cycle and daily rhythmic behaviours, have been shown to affect activity on a minute-by-minute level.
The chance finding came while researchers were looking at the effects of two clock genes on reproduction. When the genes timeless and period were impaired, male flies 鈥渓ost track of time鈥�, says Jaga Giebultowicz of Oregon State University at Corvallis. They mated for 30 per cent longer than the norm, she reports in Current Biology (vol 14, p 1491).
Would the same effect be seen in humans? 鈥淭hat would be a very nice experiment to do,鈥� says Ezio Rosato, who works on clock genes at the University of Leicester, UK.
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