This is a problem-solving program based on fly genetics. You get a vial of flies, with certain traits, and you have to figure out the genetics of those traits by doing various crosses. The traits can range from simple dominant/recessive to multiple gene, multiple allele systems with codominance, linkage, sex-linkage, and probably more. The flies come in vials, which are each shown as separate windows on the screen. To start out you can pick flies with known mutations, or you can ask the program to randomly create mutant flies. To cross two flies you simply click on each of them (making sure one is male and the other is female), and then select cross from the menu. A new window appears showing the results of the cross. You can also look at tables of the results of crosses, do chi-square analysis, and make notes in a simple word-processor window. As a note of historical interest, I believe that this is the original BioQuest program.

The program has a nice intuitive interface, making it easy to conduct the crosses and look at the results. Unfortunetly, the program was designed to be run on old macintoshes with small, black and white screens, so everything on the screen is small and there is no color. All flies look the same, no matter what their mutations. Despite this small caveat, this program is really well done and engaging. My hunch is that using this program, students will gain a greater understanding of why they make different crosses and what the results mean than they would with a wet lab, because they won't have to worry about taking care of the real flies and everything happens in a few minutes instead of a few weeks. Thus I would guess that this program should be good for either replacing or supplementing a typical introductory fly genetics laboratory.

Computer: Macintosh

Source: BioQuest

Cost: Low (single user) / High (site license)

Last update 22nd of January 1996