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We’re counting down to Darwin Day, and you’re all invited to the par-TAY! This week, Jocelyn and Bradley celebrate the origin of Origin of Species author Charles Darwin with evolutionary geneticist and frequent (fruit) flier Dr. Kristi Montooth. Kristi regales us with tales of her work with model organism extraordinaire Drosophila, explaining why it’s hard to get some flies drunk, and why they owe their survival and ubiquity to the properties of their magical membranes. She also discusses the pivotal role the humble fruit fly played in the so-called “modern synthesis” of evolution and genetics that has yielded one of the most powerful and comprehensive explanatory frameworks in the history of science. More broadly, Kristi explains how the synthesis of many different types and sources of information is a hallmark of her work, and the friends discuss the chaotic, beautiful, joyously fractalesque nature of the living world and our attempts to understand it. Follow Kristi on Twitter @narhol, and learn more about her amazing work at the links below!https://biosci.unl.edu/kristi-montoothhttp://montoothlab.unl.edu/https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/study-refutes-how-fruit-flies-developed-alcohol-tolerance/“RIPping and RAPping at Berkeley” (David M. Rand, Genetics): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1205242/pdf/ge13241223.pdfxkcd, “DNA”: https://xkcd.com/1605/“What If (Almost) Every Gene Affects (Almost) Everything?” (Ed Yong, The Atlantic): https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/its-like-all-connected-man/530532/Personalized Genetics Education Project: http://pged.org/Lords of the Fly: Drosophila Genetics and the Experimental Life (Robert Kohler): https://www.amazon.com/Lords-Fly-Drosophila-Genetics-Experimental/dp/B00DT68BQ2Related episodes:"I have a theory"... do you, though‪? (Discussion): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/33-discussion-i-have-a-theory-do-you-though/id1471423633?i=1000465426271That is How an Evolutionary Biologist D‪o (Matt Wilkins): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/32-matt-wilkins-that-is-how-an-evolutionary-biologist-do/id1471423633?i=1000464730144Sweet Dreams Are Made of Bee‪s (Anna Tatarko): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/76-anna-tatarko-sweet-dreams-are-made-of-bees/id1471423633?i=1000506815152Birds Spark Hop‪e (Scott V. Edwards): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/75-scott-v-edwards-birds-spark-hope/id1471423633?i=1000505997761Wild Lif‪e (Carin Bondar): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/71-carin-bondar-wild-life/id1471423633?i=1000501865084Sex is Always Weirder Than We Can Imagin‪e (Maurine Neiman): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/67-maurine-neiman-sex-is-always-weirder-than-we-can-imagine/id1471423633?i=1000497201747