Caffeine has been extensively researched in the past decade because of the recent realization on the harms of it on the human body. It can be found in various products such as Red Bull, Monster, 5-hour energy, coffee, and tea. Contrary to this belief, caffeine may be a memory- enhancing product that could help many people (Brain, 2000). This research will specifically investigate the effect of caffeine on the olfactory learning rate of a fruit fly. Some subtopics this paper will discuss are: the biology of Drosophila, caffeine, and olfactory learning in Drosophila. This research can be used as a model for the scientific community because caffeine could be the next miracle drug that could help many people enhance their learning skills.
Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as fruit flies, or vinegar flies are quintessential subjects for understanding various biological phenomena because of their ease-of-use and short life span. Fruit flies range in size from 2-3 millimeters long, and females are longer than the males, which helps distinguish the genders during testing. In addition, males have a darker lower abdomen than females, and the abdomens of females are more pointed. Typically, a fruit fly grows through its embryo stage in 2 weeks: staying for 8 days in the egg stage and 6 in the larva and pupa stages (Flagg, 1988). After 2-3 days in the pupa stage, the pupa darkens, signaling the investigator that the adult fly is about to emerge within 2-3 hours (Miller, 2000). Within 2 days of emerging from the pupa, female Drosophila can reach sexual maturity (Flagg, 1988). .
The development of Drosophila is greatly dependent on the temperature of the environment. If cultures are kept at 29°C, the generation time is 7 days and at 25°C, the generation time decreases to 9 days. The generation time increases to 19 days if temperatures are kept at 18°C. The generation time is the time it takes for an organism to develop from an egg to an adult.
