Sara Lewis

Sara Lewis

Boston, MA

Tufts University

Professor of Biology

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Well-done, and a terrific explanation of the process!
Nov 19, 2016
Illuminating the firefly genome
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Yes! They always remind me of aliens...
May 05, 2016
Illuminating the firefly genome
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Great question! Studies in Photinus fireflies have shown that females preferentially respond to males based on both their flash duration and their flash rate.
Apr 13, 2016
Illuminating the firefly genome
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Hi Misha- Thanks for your many questions! Since you're interested in many of the more technical details of our methods (which we appreciate!), perhaps it would be best for us to answer these technical questions via email. Please feel free to contact any of the team directly. Many thanks for your interest in this project!
Apr 13, 2016
Illuminating the firefly genome
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Why did we choose Photinus pyralis fireflies? In addition to being the iconic North American firefly, Photinus pyralis is historically important: this was the species William McElroy & John Buck used for their foundational work in the 1940s describing the biochemistry & physiology of bioluminescense (e.g. McElroy 1947 PNAS paper http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1079070/).
Apr 11, 2016
Illuminating the firefly genome
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These days, most scientists *wish* they had $10K just laying around. Also, PacBio's and other sponsors support would actually come to ~$40K.
Apr 11, 2016
Illuminating the firefly genome
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