Crimea wild type flies

[Graham Thomas]

Aaahh! those Crimean flies...

    CHARGE OF THE FLIGHT BRIGADE

    Half a vial, half a vial,
        Half a vial downward,
    All in the bottle of Death
        Flew the six hundred.
    `Forward, the Flight Brigade!
    Charge for the cotton!' he said:
    Into the bottle of Death
         Flew the six hundred.


     `Forward, the Flight Brigade!'
   Was there a fly dismay'd?
   Not tho' the larvae knew
       Some one had blunder'd:
   Their's not to make reply,
   Their's not to reason why,
   Their's but to breed and die:
   Into the bottle of Death
       Flew the six hundred.

   Ether to right of them,
   Ether to left of them,
   Ether in front of them
       Volatilized and slumber'd;
   Pursued with swat and smell,
   Boldly they flew and well,
   Into the bottle of Death,
   Into the mouth of Hell
       Flew the six hundred.


   Flash'd all their wings bare,
   Flash'd as they turn'd in air
   Suprising the PI there,
   Charging the Academe, while
       All the world wonder'd:
   Plunged in the ether-smoke
   Right thro' the cotton they broke;
   Student and Postdoc
   Reel'd from the ethers' choke
       Shatter'd and sunder'd.
   Then they flew away, but not
       Not the six hundred.


   Ether to right of them,
   Ether to left of them,
   Ether behind them
       Volatilized and slumber'd;
   Pursued with swat and smell,
   While male and female fell,
   They that had flown so well
   Came thro' the jaws of Death,
   Away from the bottle of Hell,
   All that was left of them,
       Left of six hundred.


   When can their glory fade?
   O the wild charge they made!
       All the world wonder'd.
   Honour the charge they made!
   Honour the Flight Brigade,
       Noble six hundred!

with apologies to Tennyson and some help from Matt Phillips.

Sorry Iain (and everybody), how could I resist?

Graham


>Several years ago (back in the early '90s) I obtained the Crimea strain of
>wt flies from the old Bowling Green Stock Center. Through bad husbandry we
>managed to lose the stock - we re-obtained it from its new home at
>Bloomington, but some of our assays are consistently different in this stock
>compared to the one we originally obtained from Bowling Green (although of
>course they should be the same!).  I am wondering if there are any folks out
>there who might have obtained the Crimea strain from Bowling Green two or
>more years ago and still have this stock in their labs.   If so I would sure
>appreciate hearing from you.
>
>Thanks a lot.
>
>Iain Cartwright


FliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFliesFlies

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     Graham Thomas,
     Departments of Biology and Biochemisty/Molecular Biology,
     The Pennsylvania State University,
     208 Mueller Laboratory,
     University Park, PA, 16802

     Email     GXT5 at PSU.EDU
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