A tad late for #InverteFest, but I submitted a set of my arthropod Lego designs to @LEGOIdeas!
My set idea "Arthropod Model Organisms" features models for a fruit fly, amphipod crustacean, red flour beetle, and two-spotted cricket.
Vote here:
https://ideas.lego.com/s/p:c629ad4459f8452abfba2b6b96e29f54
1/n
It took some time, but I ordered the pieces for my previous fly and amphipod designs and tried to build them. It took a few revisions, but the new designs are more stable and mostly use commonly-available Lego elements.
2/n
There are options for both male and female versions of the fly, as well as eye-color mutants and a larvae.
3/n
This set idea also features a few new designs for Tribolium castaneum, the red flour beetle, and its larvae. Tribolium have been great models for arthropod genetics and have helped provide important evolutionary context for the biology of flies.
4/n
This set also features a design for the two-spotted cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus.
Researchers have also used crickets to understand developmental biology, as recently featured in an article in the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/science/cricket-embryos-biology-development.html)
5/n
I hope that this set will help highlight the interesting biology of these organisms and get people excited about scientific research!
6/n
To be considered by Lego for production, my Ideas submission needs to gather 10,000 votes. If you'd like to see this set of arthropod model organisms available for purchase, please vote here and share among your friends and colleagues:
Dr Kate Umbers
Dennis Sun
Julien Colomb
Tiny Frightening Woman
Bruno C. Vellutini
Joseph P.
Adam S. Smith
Dr Anke Marsh
Tess Butler