How a Department of Natural Sciences Team Made a Groundbreaking Discovery About a Killer Chromosome

For most of his career, Department of Natural Sciences Professor of Biology Patrick Ferree has been interested in “selfish” genetic elements—ones that cheat the normal rules of genetics.

There is perhaps none more ruthless than a selfish B chromosome known as Paternal Sex Ratio (PSR), which has been a focus of his research for years. PSR is found in nature in the jewel wasp: a tiny, jet black wasp with translucent wings.

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