Afterourancestorsbegan toseecolor, ageneimportant in the pheromone-signalingpathwaysuffered a deleteriousmutation, making it impossible for the scentsignalsto reachthe brain, Zhang said.
First, when a new copy of copia inserts itself into a fly's genetic material, it may cause a deleterious mutation to a previously healthy gene (hence all the copia-related mutations detected by geneticists).