Crash Course In Real Science For Ya
I actually made a post about this over at wtf_nature but I figured I could share with my f-list. :3 If anyone wants to know what my research lab is doing, this is a part of it. The professor and the older graduate students have actually filmed very similar videos in my lab, but I'm not allowed to share those. ^^;
I won't go into the details, but unlike most animals, the fertilized egg of Drosophila (the common fruit fly) doesn't undergo cleavage in the early stages of embryo development and instead becomes a massive, multi-nucleated cell. By sharing a common cytoplasm, all the nuclei regulate each other and they divide at the same time. (This happens for 13 cycles before cellularization occurs.) By skipping the formation of separate cells, the early fly embryo can divide much faster than in other organisms (50,000 cells in less than 12 hours) and a Drosophila egg can hatch in less than 24 hours if kept at room temperature. <--This gives us a lot of issues. I'm always scrambling to find a way to keep them from hatching so early, especially if I need to collect eggs and I don't want completely formed larvae crawling around everywhere.
Anyhoo, videos! :D The nuclear divisions are VERY fast (around 10 minutes) so I've actually sat there at the microscope and watched the embryo develop before my eyes. It's extremely fascinating to watch. :3 This is basically what I see:
This one's close-up, in color and in real time:
I won't go into the details, but unlike most animals, the fertilized egg of Drosophila (the common fruit fly) doesn't undergo cleavage in the early stages of embryo development and instead becomes a massive, multi-nucleated cell. By sharing a common cytoplasm, all the nuclei regulate each other and they divide at the same time. (This happens for 13 cycles before cellularization occurs.) By skipping the formation of separate cells, the early fly embryo can divide much faster than in other organisms (50,000 cells in less than 12 hours) and a Drosophila egg can hatch in less than 24 hours if kept at room temperature. <--This gives us a lot of issues. I'm always scrambling to find a way to keep them from hatching so early, especially if I need to collect eggs and I don't want completely formed larvae crawling around everywhere.
Anyhoo, videos! :D The nuclear divisions are VERY fast (around 10 minutes) so I've actually sat there at the microscope and watched the embryo develop before my eyes. It's extremely fascinating to watch. :3 This is basically what I see:
Click to viewThis one's close-up, in color and in real time: