yea yea yea, get your whining out of the way. It's a fruit fly. But a really useful one.
My coworker, Rob, is leaving today and wanted to request this animal for his last day of work. Partly because they're talked about all the time in biology, partly because he wanted to be annoying. Scratch that; really annoying. Well done, sir. If you want to complain about it, his email is: robglot@gmail.com .
So some things about this fly: Apparently the name comes the Greek meaning something along the lines of "dark-bellied dew lover" and in the wild, I think that's about the only thing I can think of that stands out. And their wings beat at about 220 times per second.
So why so interesting? They're the most common eukaryotic genetic lab subject and were important for scientists to figure out how chromosomes worked. With a generation of 10 days, they are ideal for studying how genes are passed. That paired along with the fact that they're easy to maintain makes them ideal candidates. They've helped people discover all sorts of cool things like how genes on the same chromosome interact, how dominant and recessive genes interact, etc. A lot of the first tests looked at differences wing shapes, eye colors and that sort of thing. If you've ever taken biology, you know them. If you were a biology major, you know them really well.
On a side note, the last picture is of a highly replicated drosophila chromosome. Perhaps that's easier on the eye.
My coworker, Rob, is leaving today and wanted to request this animal for his last day of work. Partly because they're talked about all the time in biology, partly because he wanted to be annoying. Scratch that; really annoying. Well done, sir. If you want to complain about it, his email is: robglot@gmail.com .
So some things about this fly: Apparently the name comes the Greek meaning something along the lines of "dark-bellied dew lover" and in the wild, I think that's about the only thing I can think of that stands out. And their wings beat at about 220 times per second.
So why so interesting? They're the most common eukaryotic genetic lab subject and were important for scientists to figure out how chromosomes worked. With a generation of 10 days, they are ideal for studying how genes are passed. That paired along with the fact that they're easy to maintain makes them ideal candidates. They've helped people discover all sorts of cool things like how genes on the same chromosome interact, how dominant and recessive genes interact, etc. A lot of the first tests looked at differences wing shapes, eye colors and that sort of thing. If you've ever taken biology, you know them. If you were a biology major, you know them really well.
On a side note, the last picture is of a highly replicated drosophila chromosome. Perhaps that's easier on the eye.
best AOTD yet.
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