Flies, Freakouts, and Findings: A TRIP Worth Taking by Richard Li

Hi! I can’t believe this is the final post of my TRIP journey — the time has just flown by SO fast. Over the past month, I’ve been working on my independent project alongside my amazing lab mates, and it’s been a whirlwind of fly sorting, pipetting, and discovering more about science (and myself!) than I have imagined. And from this experience, I have gained professional support from our instructors and TAs, and built relationships with other TRIPers.
After realizing the difficulty and unfeasibility of my proposed assay of flies’ immune response, I have drifted to another project of my interest, investigating the effect of the increase in parental microbiome on filial flies’ microbiome and anxiety. I have increased the parental microbiome by feeding them three dietary supplements: probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics (a combination of both). Previous studies have shown that a disrupted parental microbiome could lead to a decrease in filial microbiome, and I want to study the opposite process, to see whether a boosted microbiome could be inherited and potentially influence the offspring’s anxiety level via the gut-brain axis.

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I am drawn to this project also because of the interesting experiment that involves, especially the microbiome assay, in which I diluted fruit flies’ hemolymph and cultivated them to quantify the amount of microbiome in their tiny bodies. Of course, that also meant sacrificing five flies in the name of science… A loss I mourn for daily😣. Anyways, as with any journey in science, not everything goes according to plan.  After I set up the vials for the first trial, I returned to the lab on Day 7, excited to check on my first flies. I was only greeted by a shocking sight: one of my vials was WIDE OPEN. And inside? Just two flies left, which to this day I am not sure whether they are native or intruders. Thankfully, my instructors and TAs were super supportive, and they calmed me down and encouraged me to continue my experiment.

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After tracking four trials of parental and F1 flies’ microbiome and anxiety, the data suggest that indeed a boosted microbiome would be transferred to the filial flies, as the progeny of any parental flies that ingested one of the three dietary supplements has more microbiome than the progeny of control flies. It is also shown that these trans-generational effects on microbiome also affect filial flies’ anxiety via the gut-brain axis, as the progeny of flies with dietary supplements have lower anxiety levels compared to controls. The data also suggests that among the three dietary supplements, synbiotics cause the most alleviation of anxiety in filial flies. 
As this incredible TRIP comes to an end, I just want to say how incredibly grateful I am for this wonderful experience. Thank you to our instructors and TAs who supported me through every twist and turn in my project with endless patience and encouragement. I also want to thank my fellow TRIPers for creating such a fun and inspiring environment where we all can learn from each other and become friends. Though this TRIP is ending, the friendships I’ve made and lessons I’ve learned will stay with me well beyond the lab.

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