Question

The average time to death from starvation in a fruit fly is about 20 hours. selecting for increased starvation resistance in fruit flies:
a. can produce populations in which the average time to death from starvation is 160 hours.
b. has no effect because it is too complex a physiological process, dependent upon the effects of too many genes.
c. has little effect because constant mutation reduces starvation resistance, counteracting any benefits from selection.
d. has no effect because it is not a trait that influences fruit fly fitness.
e. can double this, at which point the genetic variation for this trait is exhausted.

Answer 1

The correct option is A
When selecting for a particular trait in a living organism, it means that a scientist wants to improve the quality of that trait. In the question given above, the scientist want to improve the capacity of the fruit fly to stay alive longer when starving. In this case, the scientist will select for a gene that is resistant to starvation so that the fruit fly can stay alive for more than 20 hours when it is hungry. The capacity to stay alive for a longer time when hungry will improve the capacity of the fruit fly to survive.