From Fruit Flies to Findings - TRIP SUMMER 2025 (the best first steps!) by Laasyakrishna Malneedi

This summer, I was given the incredible opportunity to attend Summer TRIP, a research program which gave me a hands-on introduction into the world of fruit flies / their use as model organisms in studying human health! The program consisted of 5 packed days, where I was able to execute/research my own independent research experiment (Do disrupted circadian rhythms impact adult fly behavior? Can diet have a protective effect?). I learned how to perform multiple assays and got to attend inspiring career talks from professionals at Fox Chase Cancer Center. I’m so grateful to say that I left the program with fun memories, new friends, and a hands-on perspective in science. 

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One of my favorite aspects of the program was its structure. Each day was clearly organized, a mix of lectures, lab work, and guest talks.  I really appreciated the morning lectures that outlined the plan for the day, I think it helped reaffirm/ give me time to mentally prepare for the work ahead. The order of the assays made sense in terms of time management and data collection , and the schedule thankfully always left room for corrections/learning opportunities/extra lab time. The career talks mainly taking  place after we completed our lab work made me feel like I was fully able to focus on both the hands-on science and the pivot into hearing from professionals.. The very first day, all of us were introduced to lab safety, equipment, and how to prepare fly food, a much needed learning experience for me since I previously had limited exposure to lab work!
​From there, we learned fly handling, sorting, and performed assays like negative geotaxis, microbiome, female fertility, and open field activity, all while actively making predictions/analysis during data collection. What I liked was that we weren’t just doing the steps. We were thinking about what was happening, making predictions, and analyzing what our data meant. There was space to ask questions and try again when things didn’t go right the first time, which made the whole thing feel a lot more real/less like a school lab where you just follow instructions.

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The assays we performed were unlike anything I had done before. I had never worked with model organisms / conducted real behavioral experiments on flies, so everything felt new and exciting. I found that the protocols were explained very clearly, which helped a lot, but I still learned pretty quickly that reading them wasn’t enough. You really had to understand why each step mattered. One thing that really helped was writing out the protocols in our own words before doing them, an assignment we all agreed was super helpful.  Personally, I really liked the Negative Geotaxis / Social Space assays. They were simple to follow and fun to watch, especially seeing how the flies reacted in real time. On the other hand, the Female Fertility and Microbiome ones were harder for me. They took more time and needed a lot of focus and precision. I made a few mistakes, especially in the beginning with transferring flies without losing any but I think improved a lot by the end. 

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Additionally, the career talks were another major highlight of the program. I found each speaker to be motivational in bringing in new perspectives about how we thought about science, all while keeping us engaged. Honestly, it felt just as impactful as the lab work in some ways.  Each speaker had a different story, which helped me realize there’s no single path to working in science and that being flexible is crucial. Dr. Purdy’s and Dr. Glenn’s  talks stood out the most to me. Dr. Purdy was honest, straightforward, and talked about staying true to yourself while still putting in the work and surrounding yourself with people who challenge you. Dr. Glenn’s message about failure also made me reconsider what I viewed as a “setback” in the lab.  He talked about how you often learn the most from the things that don’t go how you planned. That helped me shift how I thought about my own mistakes in the lab, not as something to be embarrassed about but as moments to learn from.

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Out of everything, what I enjoyed most about TRIP was the actual lab work. Even small things, like using a micropipette for the first time/sorting flies under a microscope, made me happy. I loved collecting data, trying to make sense of it, and keeping track of all my notes and questions in my lab notebook. Looking back through that notebook at the end of the week, I could actually see how much I’d grown. And while I originally came in most excited for hands-on science, I didn’t expect the career talks to change how I thought about my future so much. I used to think of science as this straight path with only one version of success, but TRIP helped me realize that there are so many ways to be in science, and all of them are valid. 
TRIP ended up being more than just a research program for us all. Before this, I wasn’t totally sure if I belonged in science/if I’d be good at research. But being in that environment and actually doing the work helped me realize that putting in the effort to try/learn mattered so much more, and it was okay if I wasn’t” naturally smart” at everything. 

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I was able to learn so much about research, but also about myself and my own habits. I used to feel a little nervous around lab settings, but now I feel so much more confident in my exploring. Especially at a time when science can be misunderstood/ undervalued, this program helped reinforce that science is about so much more than just finding answers. It was a learning experience which taught the value of asking the right questions, learning through mistakes, and honestly just nurturing our own feelings of “wonder”.  I’m so grateful I got to be a part of TRIP this summer!

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