Fly food is freshly prepared and cooked on a weekly schedule.  Media is routinely dispensed into standard re-useable, autoclavable polystyrene culture vials or bottles, and sealed with foam plugs unless otherwise requested.

A variety of foods are available including Walker standard fly food, CNCB (Oxford) ‘yellow’ food, and various chemically defined, holidic foods. All standard and custom media requests are submitted via a central ordering spreadsheet.  

In alignment with environmental sustainability goals, the Facility operates a closed-loop container system. Used bottles and vials are collected, cleaned, sterilised and re-filled, rather than entering the waste stream.

Nematode growth medium (NGM) is also prepared weekly, to ensure maximum agar hydration.  Specialised variants are also available, including AMP/TET, RNAi and NAA supplemented plates.  Media is suppled in small (35mm) or medium (60mm) plate formats.