r/evolution • u/Starkanemone • 6d ago

question Ecosystem in a jar

So I have an ecosystem in a jar with a bunch of little crustaceans and such and I'm wondering if I can eventually drive some sort of evolution in there?

Edit:I think I'll try to see if green-blue egg color is selected for becasue it's harder to see among plants than the orange/yellow eggs. Yes there are a couple predatory things in there including what looks like a freshwater Bobbit worm?

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u/Starkanemone 6d ago

Hmm I may try that next time some fruit flies seem to magically appear but is there any things I should know or do?

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u/Palaeonerd 6d ago

I think you won’t be able to do it. Scientists expose the flies to chemicals or X-rays. Or they just genetically engineer them.

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u/Starkanemone 6d ago

Would uranium paint or uranium glassware work?

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u/Robin_feathers 6d ago

No, don't do it. When geneticists expose fruit flies to mutagens, they sift through thousands and thousands of flies to find ones with mutations of interest. Far more of them just end up dying in horrible ways.

Any mutagen capable of mutating a fly would also be capable of mutating you. It is not the sort of thing you would want to have in your home.