Model Organism Kitchen

The Model Organism Kitchen was established by the Department of Biology in 2025 to support research laboratories that study the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Despite their small size, both of these model organisms require a significant amount of media and food for propagation, and C. elegans requires buffers and other reagents to manipulate and preserve them. The Model Organism Kitchen produces media, food, and reagents for Drosophila and C. elegans labs and can handle custom recipes to support specialized experimental needs.

Expand content

Drosophila lab services

Customizable Cornmeal-Soy Flour or Molasses fly food
Packaged in narrow vials, wide vials, or bottles
Preloaded with closures or sealed with plastic wrap

Expand content

C. elegans lab services

Nematode Growth Media plates in standard sizes (35-, 60-, and 100-mm plates)
Seeded or unseeded with E. coli
Common nematode reagents like M9 buffer, freezing solution, and S Medium

For a full list of available services and pricing, please contact:
Louis Bubrig, Ph.D.
Manager, Model Organism Kitchen

E-mail: ltb4pv@virginia.edu
Gilmer 358C (office) and Gilmer 124 (lab)