| Model system like the fruitfly, Drosophila provides a wide array of powerful genetic, molecular and cellular methods to understand gene function. |
Do Flies have Bones?
Summer is approaching and so are insect infestations, including fruit flies. These tiny flies that are
buzzing around your fruit bowls are actually quite useful as a research tool.
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a good organism for the lab since it is easy to breed, hardy,
tolerant of diverse conditions and its maintenance is relatively cheap.
Research during the past decades has demonstrated that humans and flies are similar on the cellular
and molecular level.
Although we do not look like flies, some of the proteins and genes that are required to shape a fly
wing are similar to those in humans that are involved in bone formation.
There are many good reasons to work on flies as a model system to better understand human
diseases.
Drosophila researchers do not work directly with patient material, but the basic mechanism of how
certain fly and human body parts are formed share many similarities, our findings in the fly can
contribute to understanding human body formation and diseases.
Usually there are restricted numbers of patient samples to study the effect of one defective gene.
Using fruit flies we can make and study mutations in a large number of genes and then study their
effect. Moreover, there are far fewer ethical issues with making and studying mutant flies than other
mammalian model systems.
Recently model organisms such as fruit flies are being used to screen for drugs that can reverse the
effects of a defective gene.
Here again, the relatively low cost of maintaining and screening many flies and absence of ethical
issues are an advantage to drug screens in mice or even humans.In MHE patients the EXT genes are
defective. Interestingly, the mutated fruit fly Ext genes cause wing defects among others.
Although humans do not have wings, we do have the same genes that are used to make organs and
body parts such as bones.
To understand why a defect in the EXT genes can cause bone outgrowths, we can ask in the fly
what is wrong during wing development when the fly Ext gene is absent. Several Drosophila
researchers have now shown that growth factors do not spread properly in fly Ext mutants.
These growth factors are needed to instruct the cells to either divide, stop dividing, or become a
different type of cell.
Researchers who work with MHE patient materials have now confirmed that in these samples some
growth factors do not spread out properly.
This failure may result in misspecification of the bone cells causing the exostoses. These results
confirm the similarity of cellular processes in flies and humans.
These types of studies in fruit flies can contribute to the understanding of the underlying problem in
many human diseases.
The next time you see a fruit fly on your fruit you might want to think of it as a useful insect and not
only a nuisance.
Authored by Siu Ing The, Ph.D.
buzzing around your fruit bowls are actually quite useful as a research tool.
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a good organism for the lab since it is easy to breed, hardy,
tolerant of diverse conditions and its maintenance is relatively cheap.
Research during the past decades has demonstrated that humans and flies are similar on the cellular
and molecular level.
Although we do not look like flies, some of the proteins and genes that are required to shape a fly
wing are similar to those in humans that are involved in bone formation.
There are many good reasons to work on flies as a model system to better understand human
diseases.
Drosophila researchers do not work directly with patient material, but the basic mechanism of how
certain fly and human body parts are formed share many similarities, our findings in the fly can
contribute to understanding human body formation and diseases.
Usually there are restricted numbers of patient samples to study the effect of one defective gene.
Using fruit flies we can make and study mutations in a large number of genes and then study their
effect. Moreover, there are far fewer ethical issues with making and studying mutant flies than other
mammalian model systems.
Recently model organisms such as fruit flies are being used to screen for drugs that can reverse the
effects of a defective gene.
Here again, the relatively low cost of maintaining and screening many flies and absence of ethical
issues are an advantage to drug screens in mice or even humans.In MHE patients the EXT genes are
defective. Interestingly, the mutated fruit fly Ext genes cause wing defects among others.
Although humans do not have wings, we do have the same genes that are used to make organs and
body parts such as bones.
To understand why a defect in the EXT genes can cause bone outgrowths, we can ask in the fly
what is wrong during wing development when the fly Ext gene is absent. Several Drosophila
researchers have now shown that growth factors do not spread properly in fly Ext mutants.
These growth factors are needed to instruct the cells to either divide, stop dividing, or become a
different type of cell.
Researchers who work with MHE patient materials have now confirmed that in these samples some
growth factors do not spread out properly.
This failure may result in misspecification of the bone cells causing the exostoses. These results
confirm the similarity of cellular processes in flies and humans.
These types of studies in fruit flies can contribute to the understanding of the underlying problem in
many human diseases.
The next time you see a fruit fly on your fruit you might want to think of it as a useful insect and not
only a nuisance.
Authored by Siu Ing The, Ph.D.
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| Drosophila / Fruit Fly Section |
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Information on The Diseases Database a cross-referenced index of human disease, and the Intute: health & life
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By the Health On the Net Foundation. Click here to verify.# HON Conduct 282463 and is linked on the NIH
National Library of Medicine, Directory of Health Organizations (SIS) website, as well as the link for Patient
Information on The Diseases Database a cross-referenced index of human disease, and the Intute: health & life
sciences a free online service providing access to the very best Web resources for education and research
located in the UK
The MHE Research Foundation is proud to be working with the EuroBoNeT consortium, a European Commission
granted Network of Excellence for studying the pathology and genetics of bone tumors.
granted Network of Excellence for studying the pathology and genetics of bone tumors.
