discovered in 1908 by Dr. Kikunae Ikeda, MSG was introduced to the world as a taste enhancer. Ever since its discovery, MSG remains one of the most controversial food ingredient in history. Over the last 30 years, there have been complaints from consumers suffering from 'Chinese food syndrome" after consuming food that contains MSG. This syndrome entails moments of intense dizziness, severe headaches, back aches and nausea. Since then, numerous researches have been conducted to explain this “Chinese food syndrome”. Some came to a conclusion that MSG is absolutely detrimental for one's health and should not be consumed regularly. In recent years, however, researchers challenge this idea, stating that reactions of few individuals to MSG cannot be used to dismiss MSG as harmful as a whole. Extensive studies with human volunteers were reviewed, and these failed to demonstrate that MSG was the causation for the full range of “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”. The research resolves to investigate the effects of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) on humans, and thereby clarify the “MSG controversy", by testing MSG on Drosophila melanogaster's geotaxis, life expectancy and pulse rate. It is hypothesized that with the exposure to MSG, Drosophila melanogaster will have a faster mobility, longer life expectancy and faster pulse rate. Fruit flies are exposed to 5 different levels of MSG, ranging from the highest, 7 x 10^3 mg of MSG, to the lowest, 7 x 10^-5 mg of MSG. One individual fly is grown in one petri dish to accurately measure life expectancy of each fly. To measure the geotaxis of fruit flies, the Rapid Iterative Negative Geotaxis (RING) Protocol is modified, replacing fruit fly vials with transparent straws. Apterous fruit flies are used in this experiment to maximize the measure of the flies' mobility. The geotactic responses of Drosophila melanogaster are recorded at 4 different checkpoints (6cm, 8cm, 10cm, 16cm). Time takes for a patch of 10 flies to first reach each checkpoint was recorded. The procedure was repeated 23 times for each 3 patches of 10 flies. 3rd instar larvae were used to measure the effects of MSG on Drosophila larvae pulse rate. Larvae pulse rate are measured before and after 10 minutes of exposure to water (control) or MSG dissolved solution (experimental) using the program Amscope. Two trials of experiment testing the effects of MSG on life expectancy both suggest that MSG to a small extent increases the survival rate of Drosophila melanogaster, but this change is not significant. With only two trials performed, at this point in the experiment, it can only be reasonably concluded that MSG does not affect fruit flies' lifespan, with the exception of extremely high dosage. Results of unpaired T-tests indicate that MSG will only affect Drosophila melanogaster's geotaxis when consumed at a high level. Flies subjected to higher concentration of MSG take longer to reach the designated checkpoint, indicating that MSG, in contrast with the initial prediction, hinders the flies' mobility. One possible explanation is that high concentration of MSG can initially activates glutamate receptors, however will then desensitizes glutamate receptors. Eventually, this results in the decline of synaptic transmission that leads to the decline in mobility of the fruit flies observed in the experiment. The average pulse rate of larvae before exposure to water and before exposure to MSG are almost identical, showing that the method of measuring Drosophila larvae pulse rate in this experiment is fairly stable and is reliable. The change of pulse rate after exposure to MSG is significantly higher than the change of pulse rate after exposure to water, showing that MSG can act as a stimulant that results in an increase of the pulse rate after a reasonable period of consumption.