Fruit flies (Drosophila) are popular with genetic researchers, partly because they are quick and easy to breed.

They must be a nightmare to work with, though. Only one little flying pinhead needs to escape from its bottle and lodge itself in your hair; suddenly, your experiment is carried into the wild, where it could easily find a significant other, reproduce, and head for the nearest bar to pester the drinkers found therein.

Sitting at such a bar, I saw a beer trap full of dead fruit flies and wondered what interesting bits of DNA could be in there that had escaped from the various university and research buildings in the region. Why not collect the lot indiscriminately, sequence their (and their passengers') DNA, and compare the results against known Drosophila genes, including artificial variants?

Are there any interesting correlations between the genes found in the beer traps and those found in the bar's regulars, one wonders?

(Indiscriminately collecting and sequencing all the drinkers is not likely to find favour with the bar's management.)
-- Wrongfellow, Oct 12 2018

//Indiscriminately collecting and sequencing all the drinkers// Perhaps not, but you could collect their spittle. Simply arrange yourself to fall out the swinging saloon doors just ahead of your subject, wait with open sample jar while he lets fly with an epithet, and voila!
-- Sgt Teacup, Oct 12 2018


I'll drink to that.

A caution, though. Don't take funding from brewers. You don't want valuable, critical, research to fall suspect in the way of tobacco, food, fossil energy, and pharmaceuticals.
-- reensure, Oct 13 2018



random, halfbakery