Wasps Turn Caterpillar Victims Into GMOs!

However, now knowing that it can occur, it's then safe to assume that it has occurred many-many times in the past; and that's exactly what Drezen set out to look for.

In an analysis of several species of moths and butterflies the researcher and his colleagues found sequences similar to a known segment of bracovirus DNA - one that wound up helping them resist the attacks of another viral group (baculoviruses) purely by chance! This was also confirmed lab-side with real specimens.

What does that mean? According to the study, this could indicate that at some point history, lucky victims of parasitic wasps actually survived attacks, reached adulthood, and reproduced. And thanks to their coincidental benefit, wasp and viral genes were left to persist for many generations to come.

In other words, a number of wasp and butterfly lineages are just more examples of naturally occurring GMOs.

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