Dr. Marla Sokolowski

Marla Sokolowski is an internationally recognized pioneer in the search for genetic influences on behaviour. Starting with observations on naturally occurring differences in locomotory behaviour in the fruit fly 'Drosophila', she found that forms of a single gene are responsible for two types of food-seeking behaviour. The gene encodes an enzyme expressed in the nervous system, where locomotory behaviour is generated. Depending upon the animal's environmental situation, one gene form or the other becomes selectively retained in the population. This work is widely considered one of the best and most convincing studies of behaviour and experimental evolution ever done.