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Kim Mulligan shares how studying fruit fly brains helps us understand autism, other neurodevelopment disorders
March 25, 2025
What can the common fruit fly teach us about autism? That's a question Sacramento State Biology Professor Kim Mulligan and her students are working to answer.
Mulligan's research centers on the molecular basis of brain disorders. In her lab on campus, she and her students use the common fruit fly to study how genes and environmental factors can converge to cause neurodevelopment disorders, such as autism and fragile X syndrome. Fruit flies are an ideal organism for such studies because they have many genes associated with human diseases.
Mulligan joins Beyond J to talk with us about the broader implications of her research and why she's so devoted to teaching and mentoring, as well as share her favorite travel destinations and Sacramento Kings players.
