Palin just rammed home her appalling lack of scientific support and understanding in her speech today. While claiming to fight for the betterment of children with autism and other disorders, she made fun of "fruit fly research in Paris, France" as if it was a silly thing to fund. She failed to realize, however, that drosophila research is the primary tool we have for solving the genetic illnesses these children face! In fact, almost all of the success in genetic research thus far has been due to the drosophila model, and yet she mocks it.