A Beetle made To Develop A Fully Functional "Third Eye" Through Genetic Engineering

The world of science never ceases to amaze us. The field of developmental biology has taken a new turn. Now organs can be forced to grow on any part of the body.

The world has not yet recovered from the feat that was achieved when scientists grew a human nose on the forehead; now another feat has been achieved again. A common beetle has been made to develop a third eye.

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The location of the third eye is right on the center of the forehead; in between the other eyes. Also, the third eye is fully functional.

Is this another trend of evolution, or just another form of manipulation?

The bedrock for this research is based on an earlier research, in which this kind of genetic modification was achieved accidentally.

This research was carried out by a team of scientists from Indiana University; led by Dr Eduardo Zattara. As was explained by Dr Zattara, there is no individual gene for eye, rather a complex collection of genes in multiple developmental processes.

Now it is possible to shut down genes, and also recreate genes. The case of this beetle is a perfect example. According to Dr Zattara, the horned dung beetle (Scarabaeoidea viettei); which is the case study, had its gene that was responsible for the development of horn swapped. This made the beetle to lose its horn, and grow a third eye instead.

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The above image shows the control specimen and the modified specimen. You can see the position of the third eye. Isn't that amazing?

This is called ectopic organ development. This will help scientists to fully understand more about the evolution of desired trait.

With this achievement, humans will be the next in line for this kind of genetic tweaking.

Since scientists are creating organs in abnormal places, I wouldn't mind developing a second heart :) [humorous though].

This research has a very bright future application.

Amputees could be made to grow new limbs. Also, patients that have lost any part of the body can now be genetically made to regrow the body part.

This question that comes to my mind is this:

Will these genetically induced ectopic organs be inherited by subsequent generations? If it will be inherited, would that change the course of evolution permanently?

Thanks for reading

References for further reading: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3