Scientists reprogram ant behavior using brain molecules

Scientists reprogram ant behavior using brain molecules

Leafcutter ants live in highly organized colonies where every ant has a job, and now researchers can flip those jobs like a switch. By manipulating just two neuropeptides, scientists can turn defenders into nurses or gardeners into leaf harvesters. These same molecular signals echo in naked mole-rats, revealing a deep evolutionary link in how complex societies function, even across species. The study also teases out a possible connection to insu…

What can tiny molecules in ants and naked mole-rats tell us about societal roles? - Scientific Inquirer

From the bright lights of cities that don’t sleep—where people hustle and bustle through the night to keep subways, servers, and supply chains alive—to the whisper-dark understory of tropical forests where ants hum in syncopated lines, the planet’s most intricate societies hinge on round-the-clock cooperation and finely tuned roles. Within Atta cephalotes, or leafcutter ants, every role is pre-written in morphology, from curves of the mandible (…