Evolutionary First: Parasite Reaches Beyond Host to Play Havoc with Others' Sex Lives

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A Face Even Your Own Species Couldnacutet Love. Fruit flies like this are influenced by a parasite that can make certain males and females sexually uninterested in each other.(Credit: Jack Scott University of Alberta)
A Face Even Your Own Species Couldn't Love. Fruit flies like this are influenced by a parasite that can make certain males and females sexually uninterested in each other.(Credit: Jack Scott, University of Alberta)

Scientists revealed today that a prolific parasite is helping shape the destiny of a species it does not even infect. The complex relationship between the parasite, its host, and the unconnected species is the first known example of evolutionary pressure from such a remote source.


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