Falling Flies (VIDEO)

Duke-NUS Medical School

Caption

A study led by Duke-NUS Assistant Professor Adam Claridge-Chang identified effective inhibitors of brain activity in the important biomedical model Drosophila melanogaster, the common vinegar fly. In this work, flies were genetically modified to express anion channelrhodopsins (ACRs), proteins isolated from algae. Shown in this video is one of the experiments in which ACR actuation paralysed climbing flies, causing them to fall abruptly, thereby confirming that ACRs are highly effective optogenetic tools for the inhibition of behavioural circuits. Read Asst Prof Claridge-Chang's related paper in Nature Methods, published on 23 January 2017, which can be accessed here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.4148 Video by Asst Prof Claridge-Chang https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHoJaJapjNxu4szw5XLzI0w Music is 'Love Cubes' by Animal Feelings https://soundcloud.com/animalfeelings

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Adam Claridge-Chang

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