▁of ▁her ed ity ▁at ▁Columbia ▁University ▁in ▁ 1 9 1 0 ▁in ▁a ▁labor atory ▁known ▁as ▁the ▁Fly ▁Room . ▁The ▁Fly ▁Room ▁was ▁cr amp ed ▁with ▁eight ▁des ks , ▁each ▁occupied ▁by ▁students ▁and ▁their ▁experiments . ▁They ▁started ▁off ▁experiments ▁using ▁milk ▁bott les ▁to ▁rear ▁the ▁fruit ▁f lies ▁and ▁hand h eld ▁l enses ▁for ▁obser ving ▁their ▁tra its . ▁The ▁l enses ▁were ▁later ▁replaced ▁by ▁micro scop es , ▁which ▁en hanced ▁their ▁observations . ▁Morgan ▁and ▁his ▁students ▁eventually ▁el uc id ated ▁many ▁basic ▁principles ▁of ▁her ed ity , ▁including ▁sex - link ed ▁inheritance , ▁ep istas is , ▁multiple ▁alle les , ▁and ▁gene ▁mapping . ▁ ▁D . ▁mel an og aster ▁had ▁histor ically ▁been ▁used ▁in ▁labor ator ies ▁to ▁study ▁gen et ics ▁and ▁patterns ▁of ▁inheritance . ▁However , ▁D . ▁mel an og aster ▁also ▁has ▁importance ▁in ▁environmental ▁research ▁and ▁mut agen esis . ▁Being ▁such ▁great ▁model ▁organ isms ▁allows ▁research ers ▁to ▁introduce ▁mut agens ▁and ▁observe ▁the ▁impact . ▁ ▁Re asons ▁for ▁use ▁in ▁labor ator ies ▁▁ ▁There ▁are ▁many ▁reasons ▁the ▁fruit ▁fly ▁is ▁a ▁popular ▁choice ▁as ▁a ▁model ▁organ ism : ▁Its ▁care ▁and ▁culture ▁require ▁little ▁equipment , ▁space , ▁and ▁exp ense ▁even ▁when ▁using ▁large ▁cult ures . ▁It ▁can ▁be ▁safely ▁and ▁readily ▁an est het ized ▁( us ually ▁with ▁ ether , ▁carbon ▁dio x