What I Did
We researched genes expressed in both the Central Nervous System and the midgut, high contenders for autism research, and tracked their interactions and expression across the regions of the drosophila melanogaster midgut.
How You Can Help
We were limited to the drosophila midgut, so there are significant knowledge gaps regarding the expression of these genes in the brain. Finding these genes and their connections between the brain and midgut was really exciting, and although the genes did not interact with one another as hypothesized, I’m interested to learn why and see comparisons in interactions further out.