Inside the Fly Lab
All new users of the Fly Facility need to complete induction training with a member of the Fly Facility technical staff. Access to the facility will be arranged once induction has been completed.
Fly Lab -
D22 18-19°C
Culture Rooms -
D22b 18°C, 70%RH
D22c 25°C, 70%RH
Media Room -
D34a
Fly Lab Rules
No food or drink is to be consumed in the laboratory.
Do not adjust the air conditioning settings.
Trays to be labelled with the researcher's name. Trays of vials or bottles tipped together can be dated on the front of the tray or the first vial in the row. Individual bottles and all vials bundled together by elastic bands need to be dated individually.
When finished using communal trays, please place them on the long lab bench for checking and washing by fly technicians.
Please wash up any egg laying pots and re-usable yeast containers yourselves.
If the fly food in the main lab is running low it is your responsibility to get more from the cold room D33. Always use the oldest food first.
Put all small ties and bags in the labelled containers on the long bench so they can be reused. Please don’t tear bags open.
Empty your GM waste bin at least every 2 weeks and label the lid with the date you have done this.
Ensure you fully close controlled temperature room doors (the light should not flash).
When you have finished using your microscope make sure the light source is switched off.
Please ensure you turn off your CO2 if you are not using it and after you have finished using your fly station.
Please swab down your bench with 70% IMS after you have finished your fly work each day.
If using the water bath, please turn off when finished.
When the lab is empty, please switch off the main lab lights.
Fly technicians will turn off the freezers when they are not needed and switch these on when others are full to capacity.
Facility users are expected to comply with the Staff Code of Conduct and treat others using this shared space with respect at all times.
When listening to music or similar, please use headphones and keep the volume down so that others cannot hear it. This also ensures you can still hear any alarms that may sound.
We also ask that you do not conduct excessively loud phone calls or conversations within the facility.
CRediT - Acknowledging technicians
CRediT is a taxonomy used to give credit to those who contribute to research outputs.
We politely request that users acknowledge work performed by the Fly (Drosophila) Facility in peer-reviewed publications (including pre-prints), white papers, conference presentations and posters, in the following ways:
In the acknowledgement section by stating that “The authors would like to thank [Name of Technicians e.g. Katherine Whitley, Cherry O'Keefe, Aaron Kirkby-Nowogorski] of the the Fly (Drosophila) Facility, University of Sheffield, for assistance with [services performed e.g. maintaining live Drosophila; providing Drosophila growth media].
- In the appropriate body text section for which the Fly (Drosophila) Facility provided material/a service by stating that “[Material/Service e.g. Drosophila growth media] was provided by the Fly (Drosophila) Facility, University of Sheffield.
Culture Rooms and Temperature Monitoring
The 18°C culture room (D22b) is for main fly stock collections only. It may be used on a short term basis for specific experiments providing there is a prior agreement with Kath Whitley (Facility Manager) or Cherry O’Keefe (Deputy).
Each research lab has an allocated space in the 25°C culture room (D22c). Please ensure your trays are labelled with your name and put in the correct area. Please speak to the facility manager if you require additional shelf space in the culture rooms.
Temperature Monitoring
The temperatures of D22, D22b and D22c are monitored. Alarm notifications are sent to technical staff so we will be aware of them. If you are working in the lab, you can mute these locally using the mute button on the control panel between D22b and D22c.
The alarm will go off if the temperature or humidity goes above or below limits or there is a power failure. If there is a temperature fault we may open the culture room door until the fault is rectified.
The main fly lab temperature should read 18°C on the thermometers above Kath Whitley and David Strutt’s work stations. If the temperature on the thermometers reads below 18°C or above 19°C inform Kath Whitley or Cherry O’Keefe immediately. We will then adjust the air conditioning settings if appropriate, do not adjust the air conditioning yourself.