Researchers at the University of Madison-Wisconsin published their findings in the latest issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B. journal, hoping the results will allow for future development of more sophisticated tools for functional genetics.

During the experiment, scientists isolated two genes associated with leg development (while daddy long legs strongly resemble spiders, they are more closely related to scorpions) and were able to block the activation of those genes in several embryos, resulting in spiders with shorter legs.

“Looking forward, we are interested in understanding how genes give features to arachnids, such as spider fangs, scorpion pinchers or even poison-less tail stingers”

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