Leave it to genetics (and pairs of fruit flies) to answer a question that has perplexed humanity since the dawn of science. An American and Australian research team has found that, before mating, female fruit flies experience a biochemical state that amounts to “genetic priming,” making them more likely to mate with certain males over others—research that sheds a bit more light on the complexities of mating and reproduction.

Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 2009