STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY & TECH DEVELOPMENT FOR THE STUDY OF AGING
In addition to our basic research, our laboratory seeks to contribute to the scientific community through the development of analytical methods, computer software packages, and automation technology. Our lab has written a software package (WinModest) that has been used for over a decade to estimate demographic aging parameters and to perform maximum likelihood analysis of mortality parameters. Our lab has also written and distributed software and hardware for detailed video analysis of fly behavior (DTrack) and for high-throughput collection and analysis of aging data (D-Life). Most recently our laboratory has invented and distributed a new device (the FLIC) that measures a fly’s interactions with food every 5μs and produces unprecedented real-time measures of tasting and feeding activities without disturbance or experimenter interference. Our software and hardware is currently in use in aging laboratories around the world.
Pletcher, S. D., and C. J. Geyer. 1999. The genetic analysis of age-dependent traits: Modeling a character process. Genetics 153: 825-833. (pubmed)
Pletcher, S. D., A. Khazaeli, and J. W. Curtsinger. 2001. Why do lifespans differ? Partitioning mean longevity differences in terms of age-specific mortality parameters. Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences 55: B381-B389 (winner of Samual Goldstein Award for Best Publication, GSA). (pubmed)
Linford, N. J., C. Bilgir, J. Ro, S. D. Pletcher. 2012. Measurement of lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster. Jour Video Exp. J. Vis. Exp. (71), e50068, doi:10.3791/50068. (pubmed)
Piper, M.D., Blanc, E., Leitao-Goncalves, R., Yang, M., He, X., Linford, N.J., Hoddinott, M.P., Hopfen, C., Soultoukis, G.A., Niemeyer, C., Kerr, F., Pletcher, S.D., Ribeiro, C., Partridge, L. 2014. A holidic medium for Drosophila melanogaster. Nat Methods 11, 100-105. (pubmed)
Ro, J., Harvanek, Z.M., Pletcher, S.D. 2014. FLIC: high-throughput, continuous analysis of feeding behaviors in Drosophila. PLoS ONE 9, e101107. (pubmed)