The fruit fly cancer researcher who built his first prototype out of lollipop sticks and straws

By the time most of us notice fruit flies, something’s rotting. Recommended Video Or perhaps those fruit flies are crowding a fermenting sourdough starter, or swarming a banana that’s about to become an unwanted mush pile. But, for biomedical scientist Caíque Costa, fruit flies aren’t meant to be swatted—when studied, they’re where cancer breakthroughs may begin. “When people think of a scientist, they don’t think about a fruit fly,” Costa said. “The same ones bothering your Sunday barbecue, or the bananas right in your kitchen.” Two things can be true—that household nuisance is simultaneously a powerful model for studying cancer.

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