Drosophila

Recent articles

Illustration of ants marching back to an anthill.

This paper changed my life: John Tuthill reflects on the subjectivity of selfhood

Wittlinger, Wehner and Wolf’s 2006 “stilts and stumps” Science paper revealed how ants pull off extraordinary feats of navigation using a biological odometer, and it inspired Tuthill to consider how other insects sense their own bodies.

By John Tuthill
12 January 2026 | 7 min read
Illustration of human figures holding brightly colored connected dots.

The best of ‘this paper changed my life’ in 2025

From a study that upended astrocyte research to one that reignited the field of spiking neural networks, experts weighed in on the papers that significantly shaped how they think about and approach neuroscience.

By The Transmitter
24 December 2025 | 2 min read

Waves of calcium activity dictate eye structure in flies

Synchronized signals in non-neuronal retinal cells draw the tiny compartments of a fruit fly’s compound eye into alignment during pupal development.

By Lauren Schneider
12 December 2025 | 0 min watch
Collage of fruit fly and money.

Fly database secures funding for another year, but future remains in flux

The FlyBase team’s fundraising efforts have proven successful in the short term, but restoration of its federal grant remains uncertain.

By Calli McMurray
17 October 2025 | 3 min read
A drosophila connectome.

One year of FlyWire: How the resource is redefining Drosophila research

We asked nine neuroscientists how they are using FlyWire data in their labs, how the connectome has transformed the field and what new tools they would like to see in the future.

By Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
7 October 2025 | 17 min read
Map of the fly nervous system.

Local circuit loops within body control fly behavior, new ‘embodied’ connectome reveals

The mapping, which traces how the central nervous system interacts with the rest of the body, challenges the idea that behavior control is centralized.

By Claudia López Lloreda
24 September 2025 | 5 min read
Sleep-control neurons glow cyan in the central nervous system of a fly.

Mitochondria set ‘ancient’ metabolic thermostat for sleep in flies, separate from circadian rhythms

During waking hours, a specialized set of sleep neurons in the fly brain accumulates reactive oxygen species, which eventually trigger sleep to clean up and repair the damage they do.

By Viviane Callier
9 September 2025 | 5 min read
A crumpled fly.

Exclusive: Harvard University lays off fly database team

The layoffs jeopardize this resource, which has served more than 4,000 labs for about three decades.

By Claudia López Lloreda
13 August 2025 | 5 min read
Research image of connectomes for two fly species.

Cross-species connectome comparison shows uneven olfactory circuit evolution in flies

The findings start to reveal evolutionary changes that may have helped two species develop different olfactory preferences and adapt to their particular environments.

By Marta Hill
1 August 2025 | 6 min read
Different colored rectangles form the shapes of a bird, fish and insect.

Systems and circuit neuroscience need an evolutionary perspective

To identify fundamental neuroscientific principles that generalize across species, neuroscientists must frame their research through an evolutionary lens.

By Karl Farrow, Katja Reinhard
16 July 2025 | 6 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Annette Dolphin.

Remembering Annette Dolphin, who helped explain gabapentin’s effects

The "intuitive" neuropharmacologist pushed against the status quo.

By Michael Eisenstein
13 March 2026 | 7 min read
Data visualization from a genome-wide association study.

Revised statistical bar extracts less-common variants from autism genetics studies

Adjusting genetic analyses could help plug autism’s heritability gap, according to a new preprint.

By Holly Barker
12 March 2026 | 4 min read

Tom Griffiths describes how neural networks, logic and probability theory together explain cognition

In his new book, “The Laws of Thought,” Griffiths shows how these three pillars of study complement one another and together form a solid foundation to eventually explain all of our cognition, from brain to mind.

By Paul Middlebrooks
11 March 2026 | 100 min listen