Fermented clues

Cheese and chocolate might not tempt a fruit fly’s palate, but to a hungry fly short on nutrients, their smell carries a hidden signal. When deprived of certain amino acids – the building blocks of protein – these tiny insects develop a surprisingly refined sense of smell that helps them track down not just food, but specific bacteria living in fermented foods.

With nearly 30 presenters, including four keynote speakers, and over 300 participants from across the globe, the symposium was structured into multiple sessions exploring different themes. Chaired by CF’s Memming Park, Principal Investigator of the Neural Dynamics Lab, together with Yale University’s Shreya Saxena and the University of Cambridge’s Guillaume Hennequin, the event focused on neurocybernetics – a field first defined in the 1940s that studies how brains use feedback and control to adapt, learn, and interact with their surroundings.