Ann Jones

You've all read Where Did I Come From?

Yes.

But it's also a heady mix of lipids and proteins in the cocktail that we call seminal fluid.

And what sort of role would proteins in semen play?

A lot of studies in this have been done on fruit flies because they're such good lab test candidates.

And this is what leads me, an absolute idiot from the arse end of the world, to ask a world-renowned scientist how to wank a fruit fly.

How do you wank a fruit fly?

Yeah, they're very small.

Professor Mariana Wulfner, Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, who, for some unknown reason, has agreed to talk with me.

And I was joking about the wanking.

Sort of.

Mariana's work actually used genetically modified fruit flies who made different semen mixes so she could study the role of particular molecules.

So there's not that much watching of fruit flies copulate then?

And it's the aftermath of fruit fly ejaculation that I want us to zoom in on right now.

She doesn't feel like doing it again.

The seminal fluid is a glitter bomb of chemical instructions inside the female body.

It pushes buttons and pulls levers to make her whole biology change.

And parts of the seminal fluid can travel around the body and even impact the female brain.

What the fuck?

What happens if the sperm is delivered to a female fruit fly without any of the seminal fluid with all of its messenger proteins?