Hot and cold hardiness across complex life cycles

Some like it hot. Some like it cold. But whatever an organism’s preference, our changing climate is likely going to force them to adapt to new temperature regimes. This raises a particularly interesting question for those species with complex life-cycles: do different life stages respond to thermal pressures in a similar way? Or do they display distinct evolutionary trends? In this episode we speak to Dr Philip Freda and Zainab Ali about their work looking at stage-specific genotype-by-environment interactions for cold and heat hardiness in Drosophila melanogaster. And beyond the science, Zainab tells us what it feels like to have an undergraduate research experience lead to your first scientific publication. Associated article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41437-019-0236-9