INSECT INSPIRATION

Why flies have had an impact on science

DIAGNOSING DISEASES

You’re more closely related to flies than you might think. Fruit flies in particular share 75 per cent of the genes that cause disease in humans. As quick breeders and with a smaller genome than people, fruit flies are a great test subject for scientists to work with to understand diseases that affect humans. Fruit flies have been particularly useful in understanding the aberrant proteins associated with the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease.

Similarly, these flies have shown scientists some fundamental mechanisms that lead to the development of cancers and tumours. In the late 1920s, scientists also uncovered the mutative effects of X-rays on an organism’s DNA through tests with fruit flies.

MOSQUITO MICRONEEDLES