Gender Bender Pesticides are being studied using spiggin gene expression in the three spine stickleback to screen for hormone-active pesticides. The pesticide linuron, used on PEI and across Canada, is known to be anti-androgenic - meaning that it is capable of interfering with the action of androgens (male hormones). A protein called spiggin is turned on by androgens in a native PEI fish, the three spine stickleback. We showed that when you expose stickleback to linuron, you actually turn off this protein. This could prove to be a sensitive screening tool for the detection of linuron and other hormone-active pesticides in natural water sources around PEI. Dr. Natacha Hogan's website: http://www.upei.ca/biology/hogan