We have learned so many useful lab, communication, and collaborative skills so far in so little time.

The project that I decided on focuses on the effects that Coca-Cola and its “healthier” counterpart Coke Zero has on cognitive memory. While these two things may seem completely unrelated to some, I actually did some research and discovered that there are many studies linking them together. According to studies, consumers of sugary beverages such as Coca-Cola are more likely to have poor memory compared to others because of its excessive amount of high fructose corn syrup.  Now, I may not have chosen this topic if I hadn’t learned that diet soda isn’t any better for your brain than normal soda. As a new self proclaimed coke zero aficionado, these articles were absolutely terrifying and brought me to ultimately choosing what to study for my independent project! If my evidence points to this being true, it could be absolutely awful for the average American which drinks about 45 gallons of soda a year.

I chose to test bananas, apples, and grapes, which are high in fiber, sorbitol, and polyphenol, respectively, and a combination of these fruits to see which fruit component plays the most important role in microbiome diversity.

Yesterday, we began our independent project. From my plan, I estimated that I would have an extra hour to spare. However, I messed up and had to restart when making the fly food, took way longer than expected when sorting 320 flies, completely forgot about collecting developmental data for my introductory project until I began packing up to leave, and ended up staying past 5pm to get my work done. Since I have even more work to do tomorrow, I’m probably going to come a little earlier to get a head start.

I, on the other hand, have been loving TRIP thus far, and I can’t wait for my Tuesdays and Thursdays to come and meet with my TRIP family! TRIP has been very, very exciting, and I truly enjoy working with Dr. Leystra, the TAs, and my fellow TRIP-mates! From micropipetting liquids to sorting fruit flies, I have been able to learn several things in the past 3 weeks. In fact, I have been able to reduce my fruit fly sorting time from nearly 16 minutes to almost 5-7 minutes, which is quite an accomplishment, especially for a person like me, who is quite messy!

To begin, I needed to set up my fertility assay. First, I needed to change the fly vials. This is necessary, as I would only have adult flies in a new vial, and they would not have access to food and would leave all other larvae/pupae in the previous vial. Next, I needed to entice the adult flies to lay embryos by using the flies’ favorite soup– yeast and sour grape plates! After nearly 2 hours of incubation in a dark room with warmer conditions (perfect for mating and laying embryos), we then used a microscope to count the number of embryos that were laid and eventually hatched. This assay was quite fun and interesting; but, although I must admit, it was quite hard and tedious, especially considering the process required to make the sour grape plates.

How does Penicillin & Streptomycin (mixture) and Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari) affect fertility and rate of growth, and what does it illustrate in terms of allopathy and homeopathy in its effectiveness as antibiotics?

Before I conducted my introductory experiment, I was puzzled on how such minuscule creatures could yield such meaningful data. I merely thought of fruit flies as insects buzzing around bananas in my home. But as I was learning the necessary skills such as making fly food, sorting flies, and setting up assays, I quickly realized that the minuscule flies I was looking at had complex functions and resembled the human body. I surprised myself with my fly sorting ability. When sorting flies was first demonstrated, I was unsure if I could detect the dark black pigment of the male flies, but it was surprisingly easy! I was quickly learning to work with minuscule creatures and appreciate their size.

What effect does Lipitor medication have on fruit flies overall growth and development?”