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takyon writes:

Scientists have used CRISPR to disrupt the genes responsible for forming the patterns on butterfly wings:

The brilliant, intricate patterns on butterfly wings — from haunting eye spots to iridescent splashes of blue — look as if they were painted on by teams of artists. Researchers thought that a complex collection of genes might be responsible, interacting to build up the final pattern. But two studies now suggest that two genes play an outsize role in determining the wing's lines and colours. Turning off these 'master' genes disrupts the canvas, dulling the colours or turning the insects monochromatic.

The studies published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences challenge the old paradigm of wing-pattern development, says Bob Reed, an evolutionary developmental biologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and lead author of one of the papers and a co-author on the other. Understanding how wing patterns are controlled gives scientists greater insight into the evolution of traits that help the insects to avoid predation and attract mates.

"The two different genes are complementary. They are painting genes specialized, in a way, for making patterns," says Arnaud Martin, a developmental biologist at George Washington University in Washington DC, and lead author of one of the studies.

Also at New Atlas, the The New York Times, and BBC (2m video).

Macroevolutionary shifts of WntA function potentiate butterfly wing-pattern diversity (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1708149114) (DX)

Single master regulatory gene coordinates the evolution and development of butterfly color and iridescence (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1709058114) (DX)

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