Why Fruit Flies?

  • Simple to breed and handle

  • Easy to teach

  • Many interesting phenotypes that can be detected using dissecting microscopes many comparable neural circuits between flies and humans

    Courses

  • 2011, partnering with faculty at Phillips Exeter Academy, his alma mater, Stanford Professor Seung Kim and colleagues developed the Core Fly Course on the handling breeding of flies

  • Over the years, developed 3 more courses: 

  • Making transgenic (fluorescent) flies

  • Using molecular genetic method to make mutants

  • Mapping fly mutations to the fly genome database

  • Techniques: fly breeding, microscopy, molecular biology, CRISPR, DNA sequence analysis

Other support and activities

  • Regular Zoom discussions for teachers to compare notes, troubleshoot, exchange ideas

  • Annual research conferences for Stan-X students to present their work to students from other schools

Outcomes

  • Experience with authentic, open-ended research (including failures, surprises and unexpected results)

  • Mastery of techniques through iterative learning

  • Greater facility in reading and analyzing scientific papers

  • Development of strong skills in observational, communication, and record-keeping

  • Participation in a multi-campus research community - developing collegiality among teachers;

  • Camaraderie between students (link here to the Team tab)

  • Encouraging students to continue pursuits in scientific research where collaboration is essential

  • Contributing papers in journals read by the scientific community