A Study Of Inheritable Traits in Fruit Flies
INTRODUCTION
The Drosophila melanogaster, more commonly known as the fruit fly, is a
popular species used in genetic experiments. In fact, Thomas Hunt Morgan began
using Drosophila in the early 1900's to study genes and their relation to
certain chromosomes(Biology 263). Scientists have located over 500 genes on the
four chromosomes in the fly. There are many advantages in using Drosophila for
these types of studies. Drosophila melanogaster can lay hundreds of eggs after
just one mating, and have a generation time of two weeks at 21°C(Genetics:
Drosophila Crosses 9). Another reason for using fruit flies is that they mature
rather quickly and don't require very much space. Drosophila melanogaster has a
life cycle of four specific stages. The first stage is the egg, which is about .
5mm long. In the 24 hours when the fly is in the egg stage, numerous cleavage
nuclei form. Next, the egg hatches to reveal the larva. During this......
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