Fruits and flies: a genomics perspective of an invertebrate model organism.
The increasing number of species for which a full genome sequence is available offers rich pickings for geneticists, but comparative analysis and assembly of information gathered across species does not always lead to answers about the function of a particular gene. This paper aims to place the invertebrate model system--the fly Drosophila melanogaster--into this playing field and to discuss how the organism arrived at its position in functional genetic analysis. Indeed, despite the wealth of knowledge on how a fly lives, breathes and flies, this organism is likely to remain a player in the analysis of biological, disease and pharmaceutical processes. The fast genetics Drosophila offers, combined with a well-annotated genome and a wealth of techniques facilitating gene function discovery, will ensure its place in functional genomics for some time to come. Although the fly cannot speak, it certainly can tell a tale.
Burdett
Howard
H
MRC Functional Genetics Unit, Department of Human Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QX, UK.
van den Heuvel
Marcel
M
D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D016678:Genome; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D005810:Multigene Family; D009154:Mutation
D004247:DNA