Most people try to exclude fruit flies from their houses, but Master’s student Julie Moulton in Geoff Ganter’s laboratory has instead welcomed the harmless insects during the current pandemic. Since mid-March, Dr. Ganter’s staff has followed stay-at-home precautions to help decrease the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, but has nonetheless found ways to maintain progress toward their scientific goals.
Supported by weekly no-contact visits to campus to pick up supplies, Julie conducts behavioral experiments in a miniature laboratory set up in a laundry room in her home. A soda maker provides carbon dioxide to knock flies out for certain manipulations. A desk lamp illuminates an arena for analyzing behavior. Cooperative family members act as research assistants. A butterfly-rearing enclosure keeps the hard-working fruit flies away from bananas intended for humans. Julie’s research is helping to reveal targets for new drugs that may relieve chronic pain in humans.
Despite the challenges of conducting research during the pandemic, Julie successfully defended her Master’s thesis on July 31, 2020. Congratulations Julie!