A fly on the wall- inside the lab by Mia Downs

I’ve already accomplished so much during this first month of TRIP! Keeping up with assignments, watching my fruit flies at home, working with my peers, and learning from TRIP teachers have all been a part of the program so far. Just as exciting for me is that I’ve conducted my first TRIP experiment, looked at the blood sugar of flies, and even given my own presentation.

The experience has been amazing so far, even if I did have to decapitate a few flies. The experiment I conducted so far allowed me to see measure the blood sugar of flies. I looked into the effects of the herb Fenugreek on blood sugar and I was able to learn Fenugreek does not help to lower blood sugar. This experiment was super cool to me because since I have type one diabetes, I’m constantly managing my blood sugar. For now, tracking my carbohydrates, injecting with insulin, and taking activity/rest into account are the main ways to control my sugars.

However, there are so many unproven theories and just plain scams out there which suggest all kinds of ways to lower blood sugar without insulin. They have included things as bizarre as waving one’s arms around in circles to eating medicinal cucumbers. With my first TRIP experiment, I really liked that I could look into whether Fenugreek offers legitimate sugar control, and it was very fascinating to me that I was able to see the blood sugar of flies too.

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I’m now entering the exciting part of the program, making my own experiment!! One idea I have is to see how blue and warm light affect a fly’s circadian rhythm. I want to do this experiment because I like to use my phone before bed, and phones emit blue light. Blue light is said to decrease sleep quality and affect a human’s circadian rhythm. Apple made a new feature called night shift which makes emits a warmer light and I wanted to see if that warmer light had any impact on my circadian rhythm and sleep quality. This blue light experiment is important to me since I’m a high schooler I want all the sleep I can get and good quality sleep too. 

​Just like my fruit fly sugar experiment which has relevance to health and well-being, the results of this experiment can give me some data to provide some perspective on the connection between my nighttime phone use and the quality of my sleep.