Why are fruit flies so hard to hit? UW research has an answer

Once they sense danger, fruit flies can pitch their bodies like a fighter jet during flight, rolling almost upside down in order to shift momentum and speed to avoid a oncoming threat, new research shows.

“We discovered that fruit flies alter course in less than one one-hundredth of a second, 50 times faster than we blink our eyes, which is faster than we ever imagined.” Michael Dickinson, UW professor of biology and co-author of the paper about these findings, said in a news release.

In his lab, Dickinson and other researchers have found that evasive maneuvers performed by fruit flies, also known as Drosophila hydei, are very similar to those of a fighter jet. His research will be published in the April 11 issue of Science.

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After Genetic Tweaks, Fruit Flies Glow When They Sense Cancer

Sniffing Setup In this experimental setup, scents travel through the tube on the left and flow over the fruit fly mounted on the translucent block. Above the fly is the lens of a microscope that allows researchers to see individual cells on the fly's antenna.
University of Konstanz

Fruit flies are able to distinguish breast cancer cells from healthy mammary tissue, according to a new study. The humble fly joins dogs and honeybees as members of the animal kingdom that are able to detect odors associated with cancer. Unlike dogs, however, the flies can't show people when they get a hit. So, instead, researchers genetically engineered the flies so that receptor cells on their antenna glow when they latch onto cancer odors.

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Fruit Flies Who Do It More Live Longer

You know what they say about how doing the deed regularly prolongs your lifespan? Well, the jury’s probably out as far as the effects of frequent sex for humans go, but when it comes to fruit flies, that adage is very likely to be true.

A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan shows that fruit flies that had more sex enjoyed better health, and get this, longer lives.

In fact, male fruit flies that perceived the pheromones of female flies, without mating, saw significant reductions in fat stores, resistance to hunger, and more stress. In short, these sexually frustrated were miserable, and lived shorter lives.

In contrast, fruit flies that mated more experienced a partial reversal of these negative effects on health and aging. According to Scott D. Pletcher, Ph.D, senior author of the study, he and his colleagues’ findings provide a better understanding on how physiological states and sensory perception come together in the brain to make biological changes to health and lifespan. Dr. Fletcher is a professor at the U-M Medical School’s Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and U-M Geriatrics Center.

Dr. Fletcher notes that with the cutting-edge neurobiology and genetics employed in the research, it can be theorized that, at least for fruit flies, the myth of sexual frustration being a health issue may not be a myth after all. Expecting sex and not getting the reward, being left hanging, had a distinct correlation to the health and lifespan of fruit flies.

Could it be the same for humans?

Read the full story on Science Daily.

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