Mitochondria (green) in the distal dendrites of a neuron (pink) of the fly visual system. Photo credit: Avi Adler
Around campus, when chatting research, I often say that my hours in the lab are spent “messing with flies.” While this is perhaps a stretch, it is not far from the truth. Most days begin with fly work: the necessary housekeeping of working in a Drosophila biology lab. Although I started using this line with a good sense of humility, to my own surprise my peers in the classroom, dining hall and various social events are sincerely intrigued by it. When pressed further, I explain my expertise in sorting flies by their eye color, wing shape, hair length, etc. This usually leads to a tangent about genetics, and naturally a comment about ordering flies from Bloomington, Indiana. After I’ve thoroughly explained how to mate flies such that the next generation of flies has red eyes and not curly wings, I am usually then asked what I am actually researching.
