Neural and Genetic Mechanisms of Cold Sensation in Drosophila Melanogaster

Heat sensation has been extensively studied, but much less is known about cold sensation due to the lack of technologies that can cool rapidly and precisely. We have engineered devices that can cool in an accurate and precise manner without mechanosensory input.The model organism Drosophila Melanogaster exhibits several behavioral phenotypes in response to cold temperatures that are not dependent on known sensors. My results show that Drosophila sense and respond to cold through previously uncharacterized neural and genetic pathways which may be evolutionarily conserved in higher organisms.