fruit flies

A basic curiosity about how life works led the Brandeis University molecular biologist to discover how our bodies keep time. 

Using machine learning, researchers have created extensive maps of the neuronal circuits associated with social and locomotion behaviors in the fruit fly. 

Synaptic connections and a new neuron type emerge in high-res images, which hold promise for mapping the complete connectome.

Mitochondrial DNA polymerase is necessary for the destruction of paternal mtDNA in fruit fly sperm, scientists show.

A study reveals why some male fruit flies produce sex cells that are 20 times the length of their bodies.

This year marks the centennial of Calvin Bridges’s description of nondisjunction as proof that chromosomes are vehicles for inheritance.

Researchers visualize the complete nervous system of a Drosophila melanogaster larva at nearly single-neuron resolution.

A tumor-secreted protein interferes with insulin signaling to cause cancer-linked muscle wasting in fruit flies. 

A program developed by animal behavior researchers automatically tracks individuals in a group, like fish in a school or ants in a colony.

A round-up of recent discoveries in behavior research

Researchers show that Drosophila females upregulate an immune gene for protection against sexually transmitted infections before copulation.

Polyamines help fruit flies retain memories as they age.

In a cramped lab overflowing with fruit flies, Thomas Hunt Morgan and his protégés made the discoveries that laid the foundations of modern genetics.

Fruit flies engineered to suffer from temperature-dependent seizures reveal overactive sodium channels in neurons.

Researchers breed fruit flies that, after 40 generations of conditioning, have acquired the ability to react to numbers.

Inspired by Darwin, Mohamed Noor has uncovered the molecular dance by which a single species becomes two.

Fruit flies consume alcohol to kill off parasites.