> Also note: (to my knowledge)
> Every major university in North America has a fly lab.
> None are currently doing fly longevity experiments.
Au contraire! I'm helping in the UCI fly lab right now, and they're
doing work on breeding flies for longevity, and the genetic basis
of late life mortality rates. They're just finishing a 60,000 fly
experiment right now. Several others are doing various related work;
Curtsinger, for example, is investigating environmental effects on
late-life mortality. There's a lively row in the literature
right now about the genetics of lifespan variation.