The inner genetic secrets of how the flowers of butterfly lilies break left-right symmetry have been revealed for the first time in a paper published in the prestigious journal Science. The discovery sheds new light on one of biology’s most fundamental questions: How do living organisms break left-right symmetry during development? Researchers from UCT’s Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, together with postgraduate students, played a pivotal role in solving the puzzle. The team also embarked on a frenzied hunt across the Western Cape for naturally occurring butterfly lily mutants. Genetic analysis by Olivia Page-MacDonald demonstrated that these mutants were a natural test of the handedness genes’ function.