London, Jan 6 (ANI): Scientists including one of an Indian origin have developed 'supersoldier' ants with huge heads and jaws by activating ancient ancestral genes, which may help in evolution of new physical traits.
Scientists consider that the monster ants could probably be a genetic throwback to an ancestor that lived millions of years ago.
Scientists have asserted that they can create the supersoldiers at will by dabbing normal ant larvae with a special hormone - the larvae then develop into supersoldiers instead of normal soldier or worker ants.
Scientists showed that ordinary ants of the species Pheidole morrisi contain all the genetic 'tools' needed to turn them into supersoldiers - they just need a hormonal push, the Daily Mail reported.
"We uncovered an ancestral development potential to produce a novel supersoldier subcaste that has been retained throughout a hyperdiverse ant genus that evolved 35 to 60 million years ago," authors Dr Rajendhran Rajakumar, from McGill University, Canada, and colleagues wrote.
"The results suggest that holding on to ancestral development toolkits may play an important role in evolving new physical traits," the researchers added.
The study has been published in the journal Science. (ANI)
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