Drosophila: A Versatile Model in Biology and Medicine—2nd Edition
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 36
Special Issue Editors
Interests: drosophila melanogaster; drosophila model; oncoprotein; cytokinesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: chromatin structure and function; heterochromatin; drosophila melanogaster; mitosis and male meiosis; cytokinesis; DNA repair; cancer epigenetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Since the year 1901, thanks to the pioneering work of the entomologist Charles W. Woodworth, Drosophila melanogaster has been pointed out as a highly suitable model organism to study processes that are conserved in all eukaryotic cells. Since then, the fruit fly has been used to study cell proliferation and metabolism, genetics, physiology, microbial pathogenesis, and life history evolution. Indeed, studies on the fruit fly have, to date, been awarded five Nobel Prizes for “Physiology or Medicine” collectively: in 1933, for discovering the role played by chromosomes in heredity (Morgan); in 1946, for the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation (Muller); in 1995, for the study of the genetic control of early embryonic development (Lewis, Nüsslein-Volhard, and Wieschaus); in 2011, for understanding how receptors detect microorganisms and activate innate immunity (Hoffmann); and in 2017, for unveiling the molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm (Hall, Rosbash, and Young). It is currently estimated that about 75% of known human disease genes have a recognizable, functional homologue in fruit flies, including the genes involved in important human pathologies such as Down’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, diabetes, and most—if not all—types of cancer. Drosophila is also a very valuable tool in the study of rare human diseases, where developing vertebrate disease models poses fundamental challenges. In addition, in recent years, Drosophila has also been effectively used for low- to high-throughput drug screens and target discovery in the context of therapeutic tests for central nervous system disorders, inflammatory disorders, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. According to PubMed, in 2022, almost 1,800 papers had been published reporting the keywords “Drosophila melanogaster”, showing that this model system is still enormously useful, even after more than 120 years of history.
The aim of this Special Issue is to collect the most up-to-date research showing the use of the fruit fly to study human conditions. We welcome the submission of original research and review articles in this field and all contributions which provide novel insights into how Drosophila models have contributed remarkably to our understanding of human pathologies.
Dr. Maria Grazia Giansanti
Dr. Roberto Piergentili
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- model organism
- human disease
- inherited disease
- cancer
- neurodegeneration
- rare disease
- genetics
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