The crossing scheme to generate Drosophila melanogaster flies with brain tumor

Tumors are associated with elevated mutation rate. In Drosophila melanogaster flies, it is possible to use transgenic strains to tune the mutation rate in specific tissues, like the nervous system or intestine, so that the flies grow tumors in specific tissues. This is a valuable system to study the physiology and the impact of tumors.

The transgenic flies have phenotypic markers to indicate that they carry the transgene, such as white eyes (normal flies have red eyes) or apricot body (normal body color is brownish yellow). However, markers are located on different chromosomes (autosomes or sex chromosomes) and a carefully designed crossing scheme is required to generate flies with tissue-specific tumors.

In this project, we aim to generate flies with brain tumor. You will figure out the crossing scheme for two transgenic strains, 28590 and 8751, to achieve this goal. You will cross these two strains to produce offspring flies with various phenotypes, eliminating the impossible ones and keeping the suspects (just like what Thomas Morgan did; or Mendel).