PhD student Gerit Linneweber (from the Gut Signalling and Metabolism Lab), won third prize in the Graduate School of Life Sciences Image Competition on 13th March 2014, for his confocal microscopy image of a Drosophila larval spiracle.

The spiracles are the entry point of oxygen into the organism and must, similar to the human larynx, protect the airways from any substance that could block oxygen flow. To do so, the spiracles contain water repellent membranes and strong muscle layers that allow rapid opening and closure.

The work on spiracles is related to Gerit’s general PhD interest in fly airways and metabolism, that resulted in a recent publication in Cell about the Neuronal Control of Metabolism through Nutrient-Dependent Modulation of Tracheal Branching.