A day in the life of a drosophila biologist!

The first part of the video shows a classic method in drosophila research known as fly flipping because you flip flies from one vial of food to another with fresh food so they can remain healthy! It’s common vernacular for drosophila researchers to ask for a “flip” of flies when they are in need, meaning a vial of them!

The second part of the video shows a process fondly known in the fly community as fly pushing, where you use C02 as anesthesia to sort flies based on things like phenotypic markers (for example you can distinguish whether a fly is carrying a genetic mutation by eye color! It’s called fly pushing because you can use a paintbrush or feather to push your flies as you sort.