This morning, my kitchen was filled with fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster. This is not surprising as I keep a lot of tropical fruit on hand.

Fruit flies always remind me of science. As an undergrad, I studied fruit fly genetics, as all biologists do. My home is a few blocks from the home of Thomas Hunt Morgan. Tom Morgan was a naturalist. As a child, he rode his horse all over the Bluegrass studying the plants and animals. He became one of the most important biological scientists in history.

Tom, at the urging of his grad students, adopted fruit flies as his experimental model in his Columbia University lab. He established the chromosomal basis of inheritance, showing that genes are the basis of inheritance and are carried on chromosomes. Morgan received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933.

Later, at California Institute of Technology, Morgan formed the Division of Biology, the most distinguished biology program at the time. Seven Nobel Prizes were awarded to CalTech biologists. Every biologist that I know can trace their roots to Morgan and his faculty. I can trace my own background to Morgan through three of my professors.

Drosophila are also part of my family. One of my children is completing a PhD with Drosophila as his model organism.

I think of Tom Morgan whenever I see fruit flies. They remind me of the foundations of modern biology. Next time you see a fruit fly, thank them for their contributions to science.

I will soon tell you more about the complex story of the Hunt-Morgan family. Tom Morgan established modern biology, but his uncle was a confederate terrorist.

Photos: Fruit fly; Tom Morgan’s house; Tom Morgan