Cell fusion is instrumental to the development of multicellular organisms such as plants and animals. Cell to cell fusion events include fertilization, which is the fusion of gametes to form a new organism of the same species, and myogenesis, the fusion of myoblasts to form muscular tissue. The project I am currently working on uses myoblast fusion in Drosophila as a model to help understand general mechanisms in cell fusion. I have used concepts from genetics, cell and molecular biology and biochemistry, to reveal different components of cell fusion process. The goal of this project is to recognize and understand the different components of in vitro cell fusion. If and when we elucidate how the cell fusion process works, many replication and development issues may be studied and corrected.
During my time at the laboratory, I mostly transfer fly stocks. I also collected fly embryos needed for the fusion of myoblasts. Transferring fly stocks was necessary to give adult flies fresh food and to prevent contamination. First, I had to clean the bench tops and all equipment used in the transfer with 70% ethanol. This eliminates the potential of contamination of the fly stocks with mites. Mites compete with the adult flies for food, and therefore, can be detrimental to the viability of the flies. To start the fly stock transfers, I tapped the fly stock vial on the fly stock transfer pad to shake flies away from the cork. Then I rapidly removed the cork and inverted the old culture over a new vial. I then tapped the new vial several times to make sure all flies got into the new vial. Then the two vials are rapidly separated and both are re-plugged to ensure no flies escape. I usually transfer the fly stocks for a fly vial every two to three weeks to ensure adult flies get fresh food.
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