In regards to zippers and Drosophila melanogaster, they both either fall into the category of things that annoy the everyday human being or the things that most people overlook in everyday life. Sure we know that zippers exist, but do we truly appreciate how helpful zippers are to most people? Do we take the time to admire how influential Drosophilidae species are to the advancement of science? I would assume that the answer to those questions is no. So, my project for this summer is to showcase the importance of zippers. In this case, zipper is the gene responsible for encoding the non-muscle myosin heavy chain allowing dorsal closures to occur in embryos. Dorsal closures are important because they allow embryogenesis to occur, so researching the alleles that allow dorsal closures to occur is beneficial.
My project is to investigate new zipper alleles and ‘pey’ alleles. The ‘pey’ alleles have mutations, but the location of said mutations are unknown and my job is to locate the mutations. My project also falls under the larger question, what is the function of myosin and how the heavy light chains and regulatory chains assist with forming myosin filaments. Although some of these alleles have been studied, with every new cross of drosophila genotypes there is new information to learn about drosophila genotypes and embryos.
This project is extremely fascinating as well because of how intricate my everyday tasks are. From imaging drosophila embryos to carefully collecting drosophila embryos to sorting the flies by sex, there is always the need to be meticulous. With that being said, I am excited to continue with this project and hopefully discover new information about zipper and ‘pey’ alleles.
