Four years ago the University of Nottingham’sDr Agnus Davisoncaptured hearts around the world byseeking a matefor a snail named Jeremy with a left - hand-build shell , a “ one in a million ” genetical mutation . The emotional roller coaster of the seeking came to resemble a weepy moving picture with many aplot twist , but has also leave scientific insight into the cause of Jeremy ’s experimental condition , and on like reversed body structures in other animals , including ourselves .
MostCornu aspersum(garden snail ) have a shell that loop to the right field of their body . Jeremy ’s coiled to the left . Snails may not bully each other for differences , but Jeremy ’s intimate organ were also reversed and on the opposite side of his body , impeding mating .
Davison turned marriage broker , putting out a call for left-hand - coil garden snails . The promotion received was so keen Jeremy was dubbed a “ shellebrity ” , with his ownWikipedia page , but the project was not bare whimsy . Davison anticipated the transmitted mutation he thought caused Jeremy ’s condition would look in the progeny .
The more than 1,000 medium account of Jeremy ’s troth led to more than 40 lefty coiling snails being describe by citizen scientist . Famously , two of these , knight Lefty and Tomeau ab initio preferred to get it on with each other , leave Jeremy alone again . However , shortly before Jeremy ’s dying Tomeau place eggs , some of them fertilise by Jeremy , and his legacy was secured .
This gave Davison the opportunity to study the children and grandchildren of left - curve parents . snail are hermaphrodite , so have both sets of reproductive Hammond organ . Davison anticipated it would be the “ female parent ” ( that is the egg - laying snail ) whose factor would determine the direction of curl , and the trait would reappear in subsequent generation .
However , inBiology LettersDavison has announced the boring slurp of tiny snail feet does not bring out the birth of a new , leave draw in , population . rather , not only the children but grandchild of Jeremy , Lefty , and Tomeau curl to the right .
“ Our findings showed that it is usually a developmental chance event , rather than an inherited consideration , that makes a lefty garden snail , ” Davison said in astatement . The cause of Jeremy ’s unusual form may attract less interest than the quest to discover him a mate , but Davison argues it has deduction for other animate being . Situs inversus , where the body ’s electric organ are swapped leave to right , so that the strongest part of the heart is located on the rightfield , affect around one mortal in 10,000 . It is unremarkably because of a recessive gene , boost biologists to anticipate this in other animals , but Jeremy dispute the assumption .
" We help puzzle out one of nature ’s puzzles , which was very hearty , ” Davisonsaid . " We have see that two lefthander commonly make a right wing , at least if you are a garden escargot . In other snails , being a lefty is an inherited experimental condition , but we still do n’t really live how they do it . If we are able to find out , then this may serve us understand how the right and left side of other animal bodies are defined , include ourselves . ”
