Of flies and men--studying human disease in Drosophila.
During the past year, the Drosophila genome has been sequenced. More than 60% of genes implicated in human disease have Drosophila orthologues. Developments in RNA-mediated interference and homologous recombination have made 'reverse genetics' feasible in Drosophila. Conventional Drosophila genetics is being used increasingly to place human disease genes of unknown function in the context of functional pathways.
Bernards
A
A
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Building 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA. abernard@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
Hariharan
I K
IK
D000818:Animals; D004194:Disease; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans