Page 133 - AWSAR 2.0

no difference! Additionally, I have found that female flies reared in semi-natural conditions lay more eggs compared with lab-reared flies in semi-natural conditions, but not in the lab. Even this was found to be season dependent and it suggestive of adaptation to semi-natural conditions,” I answered.
“I am quite curious to know more about your work on how circadian clocks evolve in natural-like conditions, but can this knowledge be useful for human betterment in any manner?” she said in an unsure tone.
“Understanding how circadian clocks of fruit flies evolve in semi-natural conditions will broaden our understanding of what aspects of the circadian clock are important for keeping time in a more realistic scenario. Several humans nowadays live in an environment
Mr. Chitrang Dani || 109
whose time-cues are artificially determined by either light exposure using CFLs/LEDs, temperature control using air conditioners, which differ from the natural time-cues in their surroundings. Recent studies have shown that artificial light exposure can impact health in humans in a time-dependent manner. Differences between the flies reared in semi- natural and laboratory environments may indicate what aspects of the circadian clock get altered at a long term scale and it may help in predicting some aspects of the impact on humans as well,” I replied.
A final question came my way, “Okay, when are you finishing your PhD?”
That one was left wisely unanswered as I swiftly found an excuse to rummage in the kitchen.