{"id":2579,"date":"2021-11-17T20:58:55","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T20:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/science\/?p=2579"},"modified":"2021-11-17T21:15:18","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T21:15:18","slug":"beating-as-one-the-hearts-and-minds-of-fruit-flies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/science\/2021\/11\/17\/beating-as-one-the-hearts-and-minds-of-fruit-flies\/","title":{"rendered":"Beating as One: The Hearts\u00a0and Minds\u00a0of Fruit Flies\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Two<\/a>
Two adult fruit flies (Drosophila). Source:
Dr. Vicki Losick, MDI Biological Laboratory, www.mdibl.org
Credit Line:
Courtesy of MDI Biological Laboratory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

University of Iowa Biology Professors Alan Kay and Daniel Eberl have discovered <\/span>a tiny heart that beats inside the brain of fruit flies<\/span><\/a>. The heart, which is a secondary heart to the main heart, pumps on its own and provides the circulation for the antennae of the fruit fly. The pumping action of this secondary heart in the brain is also thought to cleanse the brain of waste through agitation when the heart beats in lieu of a circulation system in the brain as found in humans. Their discovery of the \u201chead-heart” in fruit flies was recently published in the <\/span>Journal of Experimental Biology<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Fruit flies are a model organism<\/span><\/a> for research for several reasons. They have a short reproductive cycle which means that researchers can observe the consequences of changes in genetics quickly over several generations. In 1933 T.H. Morgan received a Nobel Prize after his research with fruit flies led him to understand the role of chromosomes in genetics. Fruit flies are instrumental in other types of research besides genetics. They have been studied to learn more about behavior, neuroscience, and aging, for example.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to Morgan’s Nobel Prize in 1933, research completed with fruit flies has resulted in an additional five <\/span>Nobel Prizes<\/span><\/a> being awarded in later years. Most recently, Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Robash, and Michael W. Young won the Nobel Prize in 2017 for discovering the molecular underpinnings of circadian rhythms in fruit flies. NASA studies <\/span>fruit flies in space<\/span><\/a> to help with our understanding of microgravity and how it affects human physiology.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Read more about fruit fly research at the UI Libraries using the list below, and search InfoHawk+<\/a> to find more.<\/span> If you need help, contact a Sciences Librarian<\/a> for a research consultation.<\/span><\/p>\n