Mapping healthy ageing in whole Drosophila with the Mesolens

An ageing global demographic with increased multimorbidity is arguably the greatest challenge facing 21st-century health care systems. Understanding the biological underpinnings of ageing therefore holds potential for improving health and reducing disease risk. To that end, we and others have identified individual genes and proteins whose altered activity can extend healthy lifespan in short-lived model organisms like the fruit fly Drosophila.

Remarkably, many of these targets also have effects on longevity in mice and humans. Importantly, drugs targeting these conserved proteins have reported successes in early-stage clinical trials to improve age-related conditions.

Drosophila are therefore a key discovery platform for ageing biology. However, their opaque cuticle presents a barrier to understanding organ architecture throughout ageing. A new solution to move past this barrier is Mesolens microscopy, a technique that allows imaging throughout the depth of whole flies at resolution sufficient to observe sub-cellular structures.

This project will be supervised by experts in fly genetics and ageing (Dr Woodling, Glasgow) and Mesolens microscopy (Prof McConnell, Strathclyde) to address three questions: (1) What are the major changes in organ architecture with Drosophila ageing?, (2) Do tissue-specific interventions that extend lifespan preserve youthful organ architecture?, and (3) Do pharmacological interventions that extend lifespan preserve youthful organ architecture? The student will gain unique cross-disciplinary training in cutting-edge microscopy and image analysis, model organism genetics, and biochemical techniques - a skillset relevant to multiple career paths in 21st-century biomedicine.