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The University of Manchester

The University of Manchester. The climbing assay: Learning data analysis through live experiments with fruit flies.. ..reflecting contemporary research into ageing and neurodegeneration. Faculty of Life Sciences. Starter task. What are they? How are they different? Why are they different?.

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The University of Manchester

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  1. The University of Manchester The climbing assay: Learning data analysis through live experiments with fruit flies.. ..reflecting contemporary research into ageing and neurodegeneration Faculty of Life Sciences

  2. Starter task What are they? How are they different?Why are they different?

  3. Starter task • They are Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster). • Females are slightly larger • Females display dark serrated stripes at the posterior abdomen; stripes are merged in males • Only males possess sex combs.

  4. Learning outcome of this lesson • By the end of the lesson I will have… • ... learned to organise data into tables and graphs. • ... learned to interpret data trends. • ... have understood the importance of sample size.

  5. Introduction to the history & importance of Drosophila https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDbJnFLl3kU

  6. What can you remember? • What is the scientific name for Fruit Flies? • How many Nobel prizes have Fruit Flies contributed to? • Where did Fruit Flies originate from? • When did Fruit Flies supposedly enter America? • Who used Fruit Flies to first demonstrate a link between Mutation, Genes, Chromosomes and Inheritance. • How many flies can you keep on a few lab trays? • How quickly do flies become ‘Grandparents’? • True or False – Humans and Fruit Flies share many of the same genes.

  7. Why the fly? cheap small breed rapidly less legal & ethical issues shared biology with humans 75% 9. Name at least 7 areas of research that Fruit Flies currently contribute towards.

  8. Ageing and Mobility What happens to our ability to move as we get older?

  9. Assessing motor skills of old versus young One vial (without mark): youngflies (<1 week) Other vial (with mark): old flies (≥5 week old)

  10. How to carry out the experiment Carry out & document your experiment: tap flies to bottom, let them climb up for 15 seconds, take a picture in front of the scale

  11. How to carry out the experiment Analyse your data: enter numbers of flies in each of the height areas 1-10 for both sides, respectively

  12. Now perform the experiment Your hypothesis: I predict that older flies will … Carry out the experiment (in parallel look at the activity sheet) Now plot your data

  13. Plot your results Old flies Young flies Fly distribution across height segments 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Number of flies Height segments

  14. Collect data across the course your own plot data of all groups

  15. Conclusion of the experiment • What is the outcome? • Why do older flies do less well than younger flies on the climbing assay?

  16. Ageing and muscle degeneration BUT why do some young people have mobility issues? Age Peak Strength • Our muscles degenerate as we age. • This affects our ability to jump high, run fast and lift heavy objects. All organs and systems in the body undergo age-related degeneration Age

  17. The problem is not with his muscles! Why can’t Professor Hawking move? What controls our muscles?

  18. The importance of the nervous system for motor behaviours Brain Spinal cord nerve / muscle What happens if motor neurones are damaged or lost?

  19. Drosophila and Motor Neurone Disease Fruit Flies to the rescue! Bringing a ‘MND gene’ into flies damages their nerves. Drosophila has motor neurons just as humans. How would they perform in the climbing assay? These assays can be used to find MND relevant genes! Adapted from: Watson et al 2008

  20. Alternative or additional example of application: Parkinson's Disease research

  21. Drosophila in Parkinson's disease research Paul de Saint-Leger(1879) In Parkinson's Disease, primarily nerve cells in the midbrain (substantia nigra region) are being lost - these neurons have the neurotransmitter Dopamine

  22. Studying Parkinson's in Drosophila modified from: Feany & Bender (2000) Bringing a "Parkinson gene" into the fly brain, selectively kills dopamine nerve cells These "Parkinson flies" loose climbing abilities early normal plus α-synuclein modified from: Feany & Bender (2000) modified from: Mao & Davis (2009) There are dopamine nerve cells in the fly brain These assays are being used to search for Parkinson-relevant genes

  23. Plenary • Use bullet points to list what you did and what you learnt in this lesson. • What did you find most difficult to understand during today's lesson? • How would you explain these points to your class mates? Homework Task Complete the worksheet provided

  24. Acknowledgements This resourse was generated by Patrick Strangward in the context of a BBSRC-funded internship for PhD students School supervision and teacher support was provided by Catherine Alnuamaani, Trinity Church of England High School, Manchester, UK Academic & Drosophila-specific support was provided by Andreas Prokop and Sanjai Patel, The Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, UK Note that this resource was developed for the UK key stage 3 school level, but can easily be adapted to higher levels. Support documents for this teaching resource can be downloaded here: dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1352064

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