While the thought of evil scientists studying how to grow gigantic ants sounds terrifying, the research only happened to show how to grow ants to twice their normal size or shrink them by half. That wasn't the purpose of the experiment. Lifted from the link:
Methylation is also common across species.
The gene is also connected with the development of cancers.
“We think not only is (this discovery) important for science, but it’s going to have an effect on cancer (research) as well.”
They're studying the effect of methylation (people who use certain performance enhancing substances know what effects methylated supplements can have) on a particular gene. With a genetically controlled trait, being able to actually observe it's affect might not be easy. Picking such a trait as size in ants offers a readily quantifiable measurement as well as a fast time for the experiment to be repeated because of the fast reproduction rate of ants.
But I still see the humor in the thread. As a science nerd though, I feel I must stick up for my people.
