Sanford Bernstein will deliver the 2012 Albert W. Johnson
University Research Lecture about the far-reaching implications
of research on fruit flies. SDSU biology professor Sanford
Bernstein, center, and his team of researchers. On the wings of
the tiny fruit fly, Sanford Bernstein, has advanced his prolific
research career. To Bernstein, an SDSU professor of biology, the
fruit fly is much more than a bothersome pest. It is perhaps the
key to unlocking new treatments for human muscle and cardiac
diseases. His work has earned him the 2012 Albert W. Johnson
University Research Lectureship, an honor awarded annually to an
SDSU faculty member for outstanding achievement in research and
scholarship. His lecture, titled “Learning to Fly: Understanding
the Basis of Muscle Function and Disease,” is scheduled for
March 16 at 3 p.m. in Room 201 of the Arts and Letters building.
Bernstein began studying fruit flies in an advanced high school
biology class, where he tested the effect of artificial
sweetener on the insect