While flies are an amazing model organism for so many different reasons, they need to be kept alive. So when lockdown happened last spring, “what about my flies?” was a question in the fly community.  So many researchers brought their fly stocks home with them, hosting their new guests in bathrooms, spare bedrooms, and garages. I luckily was authorized to go into campus every couple weeks to make food and flip stocks, but a set of essential stocks still became our new pandemic roommates. 

Later in the summer, I still had limited lab access (and child care), but was itching to get some of our work up and running. Enter the creation of the home fly lab.

Setting up a fly station in the basement

I was able to bring home some equipment from my lab including a microscope, fly pad, and small incubator. The new challenge for me was to source a CO₂ tank. I knew I wanted something smaller than my giant 50lb lab tank, but what size exactly and where to get it from? After researching potential options, including Amazon and even local brewing stores, I landed on a 20lb tank that I purchased from a local welding supply store ($140 for the used tank and $35/refill). I find that I can get 2-3 months out of the tank as long as it’s always turned off after use. I’ve also found that there’s no one else to blame if I find the gas left on and the is tank empty…

While I still went into the lab to make cornmeal agar food, I found it easy to make sucrose agar food for the Drosophila Activity Monitors in my kitchen. An unexpected bonus mundane fly tasks are now a family affair.

No CO₂ no problem

One of my students, Vada Becker, refused to let the pandemic get in the way of her research thesis. She set up her own home fly lab to set up controlled crosses to limit campus visits (and the public transit required to get there). She had huge success anesthetizing the flies using an ice pad (link to refs), which is one of those great old school tricks that I don’t think we talk about enough!

While I certainly look forward to unrestricted campus access and “normal” life returning, I might just keep a space scope and ice pad at home – it sure makes for easy virgining!

Did you set up a home lab? Will you keep it post-pandemic? Share in the comments!