STILL LIFE WITH A MODEL ORGANISM
Last Thanksgiving, I needed to bring my flies home for the holidays in anticipation of the eclosion of important potential recombinant male progeny. My goal was to use my freezer, a tray of ice, a dissection pad, a paintbrush, and some hoisted fly food vials from my lab to separate the males and the females.
At some point during Thanksgiving, my mother asked if they “needed to be on the countertop” and when I said “no” they were moved to this photogenic area. Remarks were made about the apt proximity of fruit to fruit flies, the galosh representing the Earth and Nature, etc.
Overall, they were a hit. So don’t be embarrassed to bring a model organism home for the holidays– it can add so much.