Transgenic Drosophila Line Generation

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While involved with the Fly Lab at Albuquerque Academy, I participated in a multi-institutional collaboration, led by researchers at Stanford, in generating suitable drivers for Drosophila fly lines.

• I utilized CRISPR-mediated Homology Directed Repair (HDR) mechanisms to a specific binary expression cassette into the fly genome, converting driver lines with Gal4-promoters into driver lines containing LexA-promoters.
• I also harnessed balancer-mediated selection in our experimental crossing-scheme, allowing for the generation of a stable fly stock under all possible recombination mechanisms.
• I performed dissections of the Central Nervous System (CNS) within flies of a specific fly line to corroborate successful conversion, particularly given the serotonergic role of expression within the line of consideration.