It's Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, time for dancing, eating and, of course, drinking - sometimes a lot of drinking. Now, as humans, we pay a price for drinking alcohol. Tomorrow's hangover, or worse.
But, as St. Louis Public Radio's Veronique LaCapra reports, for young fruit flies, alcohol may be just what the doctor ordered.
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Broadcast History
Aired on NPR's All Things Considered on February 21, 2012
Transcript
HOST: It's Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday: time for dancing, eating, and of course, drinking. Sometimes...a LOT of drinking.
Now as humans, we pay a price for drinking alcohol. Tomorrow's hangover...or worse.
But as St. Louis Public Radio’s Véronique LaCapra [vair-uh-NEEK la-CAP-rah] reports, if you happen to be a young fruit fly, it turns out that alcohol can be just what the doctor ordered.
LACAPRA: Fruit flies: you know, they’re those pesky little guys that show up when you leave apples or bananas sitting around for too long on your kitchen counter. We may find them annoying, but Todd Schlenke can’t get enough of them.
CUT 1 TODD SCHLENKE (0:05)
“I’ve been collecting flies in my backyard for a long time, sort of as a hobby.”
LACAPRA: Schlenke is an evolutionary geneticist at Emory University. He studies fruit flies - and their mortal enemy: tiny parasitic wasps.
CUT 2 TODD SCHLENKE (...
Read the full transcript
Intro and Outro
INTRO:It's Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, time for dancing, eating and, of course, drinking - sometimes a lot of drinking. Now, as humans, we pay a price for drinking alcohol. Tomorrow's hangover, or worse.
But, as St. Louis Public Radio's Veronique LaCapra reports, for young fruit flies, alcohol may be just what the doctor ordered.
OUTRO:Related Website
