A practical low-cost setup for anesthesia of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster in the classroom

Hands-on experience is key for STEM learning, yet logistical and financial constraints are an obstacle for teaching and demonstrations with live organisms. Fruit flies are a classic genetic model organism with many published educational resources, yet anesthetizing fruit flies without specialized equipment remains a barrier to their use, particularly in low-resource settings. Here, I present a setup for fly anesthesia induction and maintenance using supplies that are cheap, portable, quick to assemble, and easily sourced. These methods have been tested in an undergraduate classroom laboratory setting but could also translate to demonstrations or activities in high school biology classrooms and science outreach events. These methods will facilitate the use of fruit flies in hands-on activities, even in settings that lack conventional setups for fly anesthesia.