Kickoff Experiment by Rowan Chetty

After the first four weeks of TRIP I completed my Kickoff Experiment and have gained a deeper interest in fruit flies. For my Kickoff Experiment I assessed how fruit fly sociability was affected by Constant Darkness and the Drug St. John’s Wort. For my experiment I wrapped my stressed flies in tin foil and labeled them. For the drugged flies I added St. John’s Wort to their food vials. ​

After a week I tested the flies' sociability. I knocked them out on ice and created a group of five male flies and added them into a social space chamber and sealed it using parafilm. I took a picture when the flies woke up in the chamber and 15 minutes later. I repeated this for all vials. From the pictures I measured the distance apart from all the flies and averaged them using an online software. I had the biggest challenge with transporting the flies and knocking them out on ice. The social space assay was relatively easy to conduct and it could be combined with another assay for my  Independent Project. 

For my Independent project I am interested in researching the effects of food deprivation on fly anxiety and depression. I researched the drug Ashwagandha which is used to treat stress. For this I am considering using the open field and forced swim test assay. I chose the open field assay to determine how anxious the fruit flies were after food deprivation. I chose the forced swim test to test fly depression. I am interested in researching more about other drugs I could use instead or as well.