the mighty fruit fly
Any number of things are studied in the fruit fly.
The effects of ethanol, of cocaine, of methamphetamines, sleep, circadian rhythms, neurodegenerative diseases, aging, courtship, olfaction, agression and fighting. It's quite amazing. There are studies in which they cut off the top of a fly's head and insert probes to study brain activity in response to different odors.
Reminds me of that scene in Hannibal ... ew.
And someone told me over lunch that there is a guy who is trying to genetically engineer a mouse to be bat-like with long tarsels that can be the framework for wings!
Another gentleman tells me that he had a 6 years stumper to his research that he has been able to overcome in the last nine months. He generated 9 antibodies against a protein for naught but the 10th and 11th have opened the door to considerable study!
The effects of ethanol, of cocaine, of methamphetamines, sleep, circadian rhythms, neurodegenerative diseases, aging, courtship, olfaction, agression and fighting. It's quite amazing. There are studies in which they cut off the top of a fly's head and insert probes to study brain activity in response to different odors.
Reminds me of that scene in Hannibal ... ew.
And someone told me over lunch that there is a guy who is trying to genetically engineer a mouse to be bat-like with long tarsels that can be the framework for wings!
Another gentleman tells me that he had a 6 years stumper to his research that he has been able to overcome in the last nine months. He generated 9 antibodies against a protein for naught but the 10th and 11th have opened the door to considerable study!
posted by ergo at 12:30 PM
2 Comments:
Where would humanity be without the fruitfly. I know sophmore biology would not have been the same. That's for sure.
Hey Bethin! Just found this comment on this much maligned and neglected geekblog. *waves*
I remember trying to knock them out with the ether substituted "Flynap" in a sophomore lab. The girl next to me waves her vial in front of my face asking if her flies were knocked out yet. Turns out she has gone a bit overboard with the Nap and they are drowning in the fluid. *wince*
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