Episode 9 - Mahmoud El Saadi: Cold Resistance & Immunity In Fruit Flies

Mahmoud Is a PhD candidate at Carleton University in the biology department, working in Dr. Heath MacMillian's lab.
His work involves studying fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) under cold stress by freezing them for periods of time in ethylene glycol, then observing physiological changes after they warm back to room temperature. Mahmoud hopes his research will help identify what makes certain insects resistant to cold, which can have broad applications for pollinators (like bees) in mitigating predation and beginning pollination earlier in the season. We also discuss cold tolerance in fruit flies as it relates to their immune response.
Did you know that fruit flies also have an immune system? Unlike ours it does do not possess antibodies nor does it remember prior infections like our immunity does. Rather, they use peptide chains (a series of amino acids) that can detect and defend against invading bacteria, fungi, and other types of pathogens!
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Time Stamps:
00:00 - Intro
01:41 - Background
03:38 - Preserving Insects
07:36 - Graduate Research
16:15 - Fruit Fly Cold Tolerance
28:56 - Fruit Fly Physiology
32:46 - Why Flies Rub Their Hands
33:40 - Applications of Understanding Cold Tolerance
47:34 - Fruit Fly Immunity
1:09:39 - Why Use Fruit Flies
1:12:16 - CRISPR Fruit Flies
1:16:02 - Closing Remarks