Sweet Beginnings: Exploring Sugar and Sweeteners in Flies by Sabina Tulendinova

Hi everyone! I can’t believe we’re already halfway through the TRIP program. These past five weeks have been such an exciting learning experience! My kickoff experiment explored the effects of head trauma and holy basil on fruit fly behavior. I used the social space assay to observe how these factors influenced the flies’ sociability–basically, I measured how close or far apart the flies stayed from each other in a controlled setting. Through this experiment, I became much more comfortable with transferring and sorting flies, handling the lab equipment, and working through the different assays we use in TRIP. I presented my final findings to the class, which helped me grow in confidence as a researcher! 
For my independent project, I’ve decided to study how artificial sweeteners (stevia and aspartame) and sugar impact locomotor activity and energy levels in fruit flies. This topic piqued my interest because of how prevalent these sweeteners are in our daily lives - diet sodas often contain artificial sweeteners, while regular sodas are loaded with sugars. These beverages are marketed as either healthier or more energizing, but the actual effects on our energy and physical activity aren’t fully understood. Since energy levels and activity play an important role in our productivity and health, I’m excited to see whether artificial sweeteners or sugars promote higher activity levels and how they may lead to differences in fly behavior. 
A big thank you to Dr. Purdy, Dr. Valdes, Dr. Austria, Mr. Cozzone, and the TA’s, Martie and Amritha, for being so supportive and helpful throughout the program! I’m excited to keep learning and can’t wait to see how the rest of my project turns out.