Overview
- A peer-reviewed study led by Washington State University with collaborators at UC Davis, published in Science Advances, shows fruit flies switch their internal clock into a distinct winter state.
- The switch works through alternative splicing of the timeless gene, a process that cuts and reorders RNA so one gene can make different protein variants in different conditions.
- The winter-specific timeless isoform rewires the circadian circuit, lowers activity and stops reproduction, creating a genetic 'winter lock' that keeps flies dormant until conditions warm.
- Authors suggest the finding could be a starting point for disrupting seasonal survival in agricultural pests or for investigating human seasonal disorders, but those applications are speculative and need cross-species follow-up.
- The result challenges the old idea that cold merely slows a single clock and instead shows animals can rebuild a separate seasonal program, using the well-studied fruit fly as a clear model for molecular seasonal timing.