They found that flies could learn to avoid an electric shock and located genes that improved a fly's memory. All this required devotion, hard work, imagination, great technical skills and patience. The fly has many virtues. There was then, and there still is, some hostility to the idea that genes control our behavior. This is a total reversal of opinion rarely commented on.
Reliable science is value free.
Ethical issues only arise when theory is applied in a way that affects someone's life. Recently, after Benzer's 77th birthday, his lab discovered a fly that lives much longer than usual and called it methuselah. It seems a fitting present for a scientist who still works late into the night and loves the smell of fly food. Of course, there is still a long way to go in understanding how genes control our lives but his contribution is enormous. We are similar to flies in many ways, and understanding their behavior will help us understand our own. ''Time, Love, Memory'' is a lovely book about a lovely scientist.