Genes behind the split of one species into two are likely to be "ordinary" genes, according to a UC Davis researcher. Countering speculation that the genetic basis of speciation results from unusual genetic phenomenon such as "jumping genes," or transposons, a recent paper in the weekly journal Nature lends credence to a more traditional view that scientists are more likely to find the key in genes with normal functions. Crossbreeding several species of fruit flies that do not normally mate in the wild showed that the "normal" genes responsible for the death of the hybrids behaved just like "lethal" mutations found within species, says H. Allen Orr, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Population Biology. "The big story will be when the genes that cause reproductive isolation between species are isolated, but this tells them the genes people are after probably have normal functions within species," Orr says. The Society for the Study of Evolution recently awarded Orr its $5,000 Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize, given for "accomplishments and the future promise of an outstanding young evolutionary biologist."