Behind the scenes in the Fly Lab

Wednesday 6th Mar 2024, 9.30am

Across the world, many species are at risk of extinction because of climate change. But did you know that ectotherms, such as lizards and insects, are particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures?

This is because ectotherms cannot regulate their own body temperatures, so, for example, an iguana basks in the morning sun to warm up and function throughout the day. With 99% of the world’s species relying on the environment to regulate their body temperature, this leaves many animals extremely vulnerable to global warming.

Join Dr Anna Vinton in the Department of Biology’s Fly Lab to see how researchers are using the fruit fly as a model organism to investigate the effects of temperature on insect populations, genetics, body size and much more to predict how other ectotherms may respond to environmental changes in the future.

Writer: Dr Fiona Suttle

Editor: James Lee-Warner