While the humble fruit fly may be a summer-time nuisance for many of us, they have been helping the scientific community study the building blocks of life for over a century due to their availability, small size and quick reproduction. The Manchester Fly Facility at Manchester University has a very informative website about the history and current uses of these little guys in science research.

Here at MSK, several labs are using fruit flies or Drosophila to study muscle biology, cellular processes, and biological patterns. They’ve also been used to study aging, sleep disorders and mutations.  Since these flies are so convenient to work with, it seems as though they will be the fly of choice for years to come. 

The series, Small Fly: Big Impact has just released it’s second installment and can be viewed on the Manchester Fly Facility website or on their YouTube page.