CUBE ChatShaala Summary — 26 October 2025
Today’s ChatShaala revolved around model system explorations by community members, focusing mainly on fruit flies (Drosophila) and soil nematodes (C. elegans)—two simple yet powerful organisms used for behavioral and genetic studies in home labs.
Sailekshmi’s Food Preference Test of Fruit Flies
Sailekshmi presented her experiment on the food preference of fruit flies using tomato, onion, and cucumber as test materials. Two setups were compared—one near the hall window and another on the kitchen slab—to observe how environmental factors might affect fly attraction.
This experiment contributes to understanding how **microhabitat variation and food odor influence Drosophila behavior.
Sakshi’s Fruit Fly Sleep-Wake Cycle Studies
Sakshi shared her progress on studying the sleep–wake rhythm of fruit flies, noting variations in fly activity patterns at different times of the day. These behavioral observations may help in connecting circadian rhythms in flies to environmental stimuli such as light and temperature, an important step in modeling human biological rhythms at home labs.
Nematode Studies—C. elegans from Soil Samples
The discussion then moved to soil nematode investigations, inspired by past CUBE experiments on isolating C. elegans from soil. Using boiled potato as a bacterial attractant, members tried to recreate habitats that encourage nematode appearance.
This connects to the larger question: Can we really find and maintain C. elegans-like nematodes from Indian soil samples under home conditions?
Gaps and Misconceptions
-
Some participants were unsure whether C. elegans can be directly isolated from local soils or whether they need specific culture media.
-
There was confusion about distinguishing free-living nematodes from C. elegans based on size and motion patterns.
-
In the fruit fly experiment, the odor-based attraction vs. visual cues was not clearly differentiated—prompting the need for a controlled comparison.
TINKE Moments (Thoughts I Never Knew Existed)
-
The realization that simple home setups like kitchen slabs or boiled potatoes can serve as experimental models for studying global research organisms.
-
The insight that fruit flies and nematodes share behavioral principles that can link nutrition, circadian rhythm, and evolution.
-
The curiosity that emerged when flies preferred certain foods more near the window—hinting at the role of microenvironmental cues.
Queries to the Community
-
Do fruit flies prefer the same food in different rooms—or do micro-environmental factors influence their “taste”?
-
Can Indian soil truly harbor C. elegans, or are we observing look-alike nematodes?
-
What if we connect Sailekshmi’s food preference test with Sakshi’s sleep–wake study —
could diet influence activity cycles in fruit flies? -
Can boiled potato serve as a simple medium for observing microbial-nematode interactions at home labs?
What I Learned
Today’s ChatShaala beautifully demonstrated how simple observations at home can open up pathways to scientific reasoning and model system exploration. Whether it’s fruit flies’ behavioral choices or nematodes’ survival patterns, each experiment adds to our understanding of how life thrives even in the simplest of conditions.
Photographs duing Chatshaala
video of C. elegans by @magpie
Referance
Isolation of C. elegans in Home Labs (Bengal)
The Worm That Won the World—Medium Article
Looking for C. elegans in Indian Soil
Soil Nematodes studies by Class 10th students