Andrea M Darby

4 weeks ago | elifesciences.org | Sarah R Mullinax |Andrea M Darby |Anjali Gupta |Patrick Chan

eLife Assessment This valuable study investigates evolutionary aspects around a single amino acid polymorphism, known to be under long-term balancing selection, in an immune peptide of Drosophila melanogaster. Using alleles with different substitutions, the investigators demonstrate that while one allele provides better survival after systemic infections by a bacterial pathogen, the alternative allele endows its carriers with a longer lifespan under certain conditions.