Blog Post #1

Let the Journey Begin

Here we go again, another research project! Better strap in for a few months of stress-filled fun. This year, I have set out to investigate the effect of RNAi on the weight of offspring in Drosophila Melanogaster (fruit flies). While this is a completely new area of research for me, I worked on a research project last year also with flies. Last year, my team and I investigated the effects of CoQ10 on offspring quantity in fruit flies. While we did not achieve statistical significance, I learned a lot about the scientific research process, fulling me to continue research with flies this year. 

Over the summer. I worked on a project exploration assignment, where I began looking into fly development. After more research, I landed on the Halloween genes after looking into the development of fruit flies. Naturally, Spookier sounded funny so I looked into it further. As it turned out, Spookier had not been investigated in embryonic viability unlike many of the other Halloween genes. Consequently, I decided to 

After finishing up my research proposal, I got approval for my project. Soon thereafter I ordered my flies from Bloomington Fly Stock center and then on October 9th, joy filled the room as I got an email from Mrs. Petri saying “Flies are here!!!!” After politely asking, Mr. McBride let me leave his class to work on a project for his class. I got to the biotech room and transferred the flies out of their vials. At first I was worried, as it looked like many of the flies were drowning and I was going to have to hope that there were larva in the media. As time went on though, the flies were quick to get after it. Right now, I have over 60 vials, between the two groups. 

From October to today, I have solely been completing vial transfers. This encourages flies to breed together, to help ensure successful population cultivation. This process is fairly simple and involves using a funnel to move the flies from one vial to another. Through my work with flies last year, I have become skilled at this project and have not hit any major roadblocks. So far the only main causes for concern have been the flies surviving break and some vials that dried out quicker than expected.

In the coming days and weeks I will begin pre trials, where I will breed flies from the GAL4 line together, and ensure that I can collect and measure the larva. This will hopefully smooth out any problems I may occur, so that for actual trials there will be no problem. As of now, the goal is to complete pre trials before Christmas break. Then when I get back from break, I hope to spend the next four to six weeks working on experimental trials. 

For Pre-trials I will be running a virgin week. Fruit flies are considered to be virgin for 8 hrs after hatching. Following this timeline , I will release all the flies in a vial at approximately 2am to ensure that any fly that hatches is still virgin by 10am. Then I will check these vials for new adult flies that have just emerged. These are the young flies that have just developed from their pupal stage and are virgin. Then, I will anestesize the flies, separating the virgins into groups of males and females. I will then place 2 male flies and 6 female flies into a vial and let them breed. After 5-7 days (still trying to decide), I will then use a sucrose solution and a buffer, which is designed to let the flies float to the top, while the media sinks. After collecting the flies from the top of the solution, I will then weigh each fly. This process will be then completed for experimental trials. Once where the Gal4 fly lines are bred together, and once where the Gal4 and UAS fly line will be bred together (this will result in RNAi of the Spookier gene). For both groups, I will pour a buffer solution into the media after a week, where the larva will float to the top. I will then transfer each larva out, letting them dry, before placing them on a scale and recording their weight. Then, using a t-test, I will compare the average offspring weight of these two groups. This will conclude my project. If everything goes smoothly (fingers crossed), I hope to complete my project in January.

For now, that's all folks, but be sure to check your email in the coming month for more updates.

Too Many Vials