Thanks to Drosophila in advancing biomedical research

Document Type : Letter to the Editor

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Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University

Abstract

In 1910, no one could imagine that the small fly, Drosophila reared in Thomas Morgan Lab at Columbia University, USA will help us to understand genetics, developmental processes, innate immunity, complex behaviour and neural control of several functions in eukaryotes, including humans. The vinegar fly, D. melanogaster is a small insect which attracted scientists to answer several important questions and as a low-cost and valuable model for studying neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, kidney diseases, metabolic, respiratory and immune disorders, intestinal inflammation and pathogens, cancer and ageing, because it is easy to be cultured to produce large numbers as well as its short life cycle; its mutant lines are available in several centers. Besides, its genome has been sequenced which showed approximately 75% similarity of the human disease-related genes. Research on Drosophila has resulted in seven Nobel prizes between 1933 and 2017. We do believe that using Drosophila as a model for human diseases will advance and foster our understanding of human diseases.

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