While fans of fresh produce see fruit flies as a nuisance, Edward Blumenthal sees them as an opportunity.
He is an associate professor of biological sciences at Marquette University, and he has devoted his career to the cultivation and study of these one-eighth-inch-long insects.
Biologists use fruit flies for their research because they need only two weeks to generate and because “turning fruit fly genes on and off is relatively easy,” which helps scientists study the effect of specific genes, Blumenthal said.
He currently has about 200 different lines of flies that have various genetic mutations. He estimates the total number of flies in his lab at 40,000 at any given time.
To study the flies, he has to cultivate them. Student researchers begin by cooking fly food. Blumenthal’s recipe includes molasses, yeast and corn meal. The flies and the food are then placed in vials, which are covered by cotton balls and placed into an incubator.
“We spend time on the microscope, sorting and moving [the flies] around with a paint brush and separating them into piles,” Blumenthal said. “We want to figure out which ones we will mate with other flies.”
Blumenthal and his assistants also perform experiments on the flies. The focus of his research is the structures that hold the fruit fly (scientific name Drosophila) together. They dissect the insects to determine whether these structures are present and, if they are present, how strong they are.
The barriers are made of proteins that will fall apart in a solution if they are not held together properly.
A mosquito can only transmit malaria if the parasite that causes the disease can cross a barrier in the mosquito’s gut. By learning how the structures are put together, Blumenthal’s research may help find new ways to block malaria from spreading, but this is “way off in the future,” he said.
His research also could lead to new strategies for pest control. “If we can figure out how to break down the barriers that hold the fruit flies together, they won’t survive,” he said.
Blumenthal is often asked how to get rid of flies in the kitchen. “Most of my ideas never really work well. The flies in people’s kitchens are faster and smarter than my fruit flies,” he said.
Teaching is an important part of Blumenthal’s job. This year he is teaching the introductory biology class for freshman for the first time in his 12 years at the university.
In addition, Blumenthal currently serves as director of the undergraduate summer research program, chair of the university’s board of undergraduate studies and director of the graduate program in the biology department.
“I like finding ways to do my job better and to make the student experience better,” he said. But what he likes most about his job, he said, is his ability to combine teaching and research.
Two years ago, Blumenthal and his family (wife, Amy, and daughters Emily, 16, and Rachel, 14) spent a sabbatical year in Belgium. Blumenthal worked with researchers at the University of Leuven.
He continued studying his various lines of fruit flies (which he sent to Belgium via FedEx), taking advantage of expertise and equipment that are not available in Wisconsin.
Blumenthal said his research has no end. “There are always more questions…You never know everything; you just ask more sophisticated questions.”
Blumenthal holds a black belt in the martial art tae kwon do and enjoys singing, especially at morning services for Rosh HaShanah at Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid.
He earned an undergraduate degree in biochemistry at Cornell University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience at Yale University. He completed post-doctoral work in biology at the University of California-San Diego and at the University of Virginia.
Stephanie Wagner is the vice president of communications and strategy at the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
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