In my past, I used to do genetic research on various species of
Drosophila (back when I used to be smart). That's probably why I found
the following news item to be so interesting. You can read the original
on the Medscape website at
http://neurology.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2000/03/03.27/sc03270c.html
Jeff
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Parkinson's Disease Model Developed in Drosophila
WESTPORT, Mar 27 (Reuters Health) - Researchers have been able to
express the human alpha-synuclein
gene in Drosophila, making it a new genetic model for the future study
of Parkinson's disease.
Drs. Mel B. Feany and Welcome W. Bender from Harvard Medical School,
Boston, Massachusetts,
conducted the research and the results are published in the March 23rd
issue of Nature.
In Drosophila the alpha-synuclein gene acted in much the same way it
does in humans. Many of the
effects were reproduced including the development of intraneuronal
inclusions that resembled Lewy
bodies. And, Drosophila reacted with many of the same kinds of symptoms
found in Parkinson's
disease.
Dr. Feany, in an interview with Reuters Health, said, "We are
particularly interested in using the
Drosophila as a genetic model of Parkinson's disease and what that means
is that we'll be able to use the
powerful genetics of fruit flies to see new genes and proteins important
in the pathogenesis of
Parkinson's."
She pointed out several advantages to using fruit flies rather than, for
example, mice. "Fruit flies don't live
very long. They live for about 60 days. Their generation time is even
shorter � 10 days. Added to the
short generation time are very sophisticated genetics. That means it is
quite easy to find genes once you
have identified them and that really makes all the difference. That's
what makes the mouse work and the
work in humans really so very hard."
Dr. Feany went on to say, "The other thing that we're excited about is
the use of the flies as drug screening
tools. We have already started to screen for drugs in fruit flies that
we hope will ameliorate their
Parkinson's symptoms. The obvious implication then is that those would
be excellent things to try in
people."
Nature 2000;404:394-398.
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (480) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626
"The truth is rare and never simple."
Oscar Wilde
"Science must begin with myths and with the criticism of myths"
Karl Popper
