Small Flies, Big Discoveries
- symthasreeskoganti
- May 2
- 4 min read
Fairfax, VA
Behind much research expanding our understanding of topics from sleep to traumatic brain injuries to neurodegeneration lies a humble fly. Sound far-fetched? Meet Drosophila melanogaster, a tiny fruit fly contributing way above its weight class to science.
Why use model organisms?
Model organisms, non-human organisms studied often to gain insight into the biological workings of other species, are crucial to advancing scientific knowledge. They range from fungi (E. nidulans) to mustard greens (A. thaliana) to the lab rat (R. norvegius), spanning from tiny and single-celled to larger multicellular species. Scientists can have a standardized organism across different studies by using particular organisms to study certain processes; experiments with A. thaliana examine the workings of traits like light sensing and drought resistance. In having the subjects as a constant for preliminary research, methodology and results in already published papers can be even more relevant to burgeoning preliminary ideas or studies.
How did the Drosophila melanogaster become a model organism?
This fruit fly came into scientific usage as a model organism with the work of Thomas Hunt Morgan in 1907. His work on heredity was assisted invaluably by particular traits of D. melanogaster: the little requirements for care, their brief life cycle, and the high reproduction rate. When studying genetics, where a focal point of research was on how genes would be inherited from generation to generation, the ability to breed new generations quickly and easily was beneficial for Morgan. His research actually led to experimental evidence that chromosomes held genes, eventually leading to the chromosomal theory of inheritance. His publication of The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity in the coming years and his later Nobel Prize for his work with Drosophila certainly lent scientific credibility to its usage as a model organism and popularized its use in experiments.
How is Drosophila melanogaster currently used in research?
This humble fruit fly is now one of the most commonly used organisms in biomedical research. Involved in fields from classic genetics to oncological studies, it serves as a cost-effective method to conduct valuable research in a time where budgets and grant allocations seem to be shrinking for institutions and labs.
In genetics, D. melanogaster has a relatively simple genome (especially in comparison to mammals). Thus, complicated genetic changes can be made relatively easily and cheaply for new mutant D. melanogaster strains that can better assist in answering a particular research question. While having allowed for the development of our understanding around chromosomal inheritance, many studies conducted using D. melanogaster focus on signaling pathways and their regulation concerning genes, or what loss or overexpression of certain genes has as an effect on the organism. 75% of the genes responsible for causing diseases in humans are said to have homologs in flies, making fruit flies decent subjects for initial ideas regarding the interplay of genes in causing certain conditions or the effectiveness of treatments.
This ease of manipulating the fly genome is exactly what also makes it a wonderful model for cancer biology. Signaling pathways present in both humans and flies allow for genetic tools to induce uncontrolled growth—which is what cancer essentially is. There exists a very concrete understanding of the D. melanogaster anatomy and life cycle available for perusal through papers and books in the scientific community. By comparing what is expected to occur versus what is occurring, especially in physiological mechanisms, the immune system, and the results of applied treatments, scientists can gather data to better understand the subject(s) of their research question.
Researchers in neuroscience, however, benefit from both the malleable fly genome and ease in administering treatments. Though flies have a simple central nervous system, they do still have one, with all its glia (connective tissue of nervous system), neurons (nerve cell), and connections. Thus, researchers can make use of mutant flies with knocked-out or overexpressed genes that give them symptomology similar to that of particular conditions (i.e. Parkinson’s Disease, Alzhiemer’s Disease). Treatments can then be administered to see if it has any impact on the symptoms and dependent variables being measured in regards to the flies. It is also possible to subject D. melanogaster to tests regarding sensory experiences (ex: olfactory) or induction of traumatic brain injuries to gain a deeper understanding of these subcategories in neuroscience.
Thoughts to Ponder About
Thanks to Drosophila melanogaster, we have been able to make leaps in scientific understanding built off of studies using this fruit fly as a model organism. So the next time you think about who you got your eye color from or realize how similar your family looks to each other, just remember that a small fruit fly contributed more than a bit to that overarching scientific understanding!
References:
Kamerling, J. P., & Boons, G.-J. (2007). Comprehensive glycoscience : from chemistry to systems biology. Elsevier.
Mirzoyan, Z., Sollazzo, M., Allocca, M., Valenza, A. M., Grifoni, D., & Bellosta, P. (2019). Drosophila melanogaster: A model organism to study cancer. Frontiers in Genetics, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00051
Peters, O. M., & Brown, R. H. (2023). Chapter 15 - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In Neurobiology of brain disorders : biological basis of neurological and psychiatric disorders (2nd ed., pp. 233-251). Academic Press, an imprint of Elsevier.
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