EMBO Drosophila Genetics Course

Karla and Reza taught at the 2025 Drosophila Genetics and Genomics EMBO Practical course in Heidelberg August 4-8. Karla lectured about using Drosophila to perform behavior screens (covering genes and circuits), and Karla and Reza teamed up with Gilles Storelli from University of Heidelberg to teach practical lab exercises on Drosophila feeding and metabolism. Reza taught students how to perform optogenetic experiments to understand how manipulating taste and feeding neurons impact behavior in the flyGrAM and Karla gave an overview of different ways to measure feeding behavior in flies and taught students how to perform CAFE assay experiments. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is an amazing facility (with a great view from the roof of the lab course building!) and Heidelberg is a fun, accessible and interesting city.