A letter of support

This is a letter of support for President Davide Boren for the addition of a statue of drosophila melanogaster on the University of Oklahoma campus.  The statue, which would be a realistic human-size statue, would also be the first of a series of biological organisms to be portrayed in a statue form across campus.  In today’s society, where opinions on many topics can vary regardless of what the basic facts describe, the roots of all of our knowledge should be known by many.  Concerning these roots in which we have discovered the knowledge of the world, biology is a vital aspect to our knowledge as human beings.  We have uncovered so much from biological studies and organisms that it has greatly advanced our knowledge in many fields.   The drosophila melanogaster is the fruit fly.  As Fly: The Unsung Hero of 20th Century Science by Martin Brookes points out, the fruit fly was revolutionary in scientific uses.  These fruit flies had the same functions as the many other test animals that we had been using up to the discovery of the fruit fly’s effectiveness.  These fruit flies were much faster and more efficient for scientific use.  The fruit flies have been used in gene coding, cloning, memory, sex, among many other things.  The scientific advancements that these have allowed is nothing short of spectacular.  Its obvious, after reading the vast importance portrayed in Martin Brookes book, that the drosophila melanogaster is worthy of its recognition.  The addition of a statue of such a revolutionary and important organism would be great in and of itself.  But the fact that something, an organism as simple yet elegant as a fruit fly, could be of such vital importance to science and the discovery of knowledge in our human world.   The fruit fly, or in its official scientific name drosophila melanogaster which it will be referred to on campus, is incredibly small.  When somebody sees a fruit fly in their every day life, they certainly do not realize nor comprehend how important it has been to scientific discovery.  Someone possibly does not even recognize a fruit fly.  In fact, most people would be annoyed by a fruit fly if it were near by them.  However, by adding a statue recognizing its significance, people can begin to understand and recognize more basic facts of life.  These facts of life might have even been shown to us by the drosophila melanogaster  

​Picture by Botaurus