Research - The Cripps Lab

In 1900 at Harvard University, C. W. Woodworth began utilizing Drosophila melanogaster or the fruit fly for his work in genetics. Soon, other scientists began using Drosophila for their studies, including W.E. Castle, F.E. Lutz, and T.H. Morgan, a Nobel laureate. Since then, the fruit fly has been used as one of the key model organisms in genetics and developmental biology. In a study by Reiter et al. 2016, they found that 77% of OMIM human disease gene entries are highly similar to a fruit fly counterpart. Due to this high conservation combined with quick generation time, Drosophila is one of the most used model organism.
Dr. Richard Cripps utilizes the fruit fly to understand the mechanisms that govern muscle development. The fruit fly has a variety of muscle types which allows researchers to better understand why certain muscles develop. His lab seeks to understand the key transcriptional regulators of muscle development through the different life stages. Please review the PowerPoint below for more information on our research.