News From the Field

How fruit flies detect sweet foods


January 13, 2014

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Using the common fruit fly, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have performed a study that describes just how the fly's taste receptors detect sweet compounds. Even though these taste receptors were discovered more than a decade ago, how they recognize diverse chemicals remained an enigma and an unmet challenge--until now. Understanding the mechanisms by which the fly tastes and ingests sweet substances may offer tools to control insect feeding, the researchers say.Full Story

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University of California, Riverside

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