Fruit Flies and Alcohol About Health, Not Abuse
David Pesci<div class="at-above-post addthis_tool" data-url="http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2012/02/20/singer-fruit-flies-and-alcohol-about-health-not-abuse/"></div>Associate Professor of Biology Michael Singer says there's a method behind fruit flies' alcohol consumption <!-- AddThis Advanced Settings above via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings below via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons above via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons below via filter on get_the_excerpt --><div class="at-below-post addthis_tool" data-url="http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2012/02/20/singer-fruit-flies-and-alcohol-about-health-not-abuse/"></div><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt -->
Commenting in a piece in The New York Times, Michael Singer, associate professor of biology, discusses the recent discovery that fruit flies purposely ingest alcohol to the point of intoxication, but the practice kills parasites in the flies bodies which would otherwise kill them or their young. The research complements Singer’s earlier work examining the self-medicating practices of certain caterpillars.
Sarah Parke
Mike Mavredakis