ABSTRACT
Taking Alzheimer’s disease as an example only 10% of cases are familial, however, all the known mutations affect the proteolytic processing of a transmembrane protein called amyloid precursor protein and the subsequent generation of the amyloid peptide. Genetic screens in a fly model of Alzheimer’s disease permit the identification of disease-modifying genes. Genetic analysis and mutagenesis in Drosophila may offer insights into the early events of disease pathogenesis in a brain that is less complex than the human, but in which neuronal function is highly conserved. The use of the fly to model human disease has many advantages, primarily the speed and power of the genetic screens that can be performed. However, the work of translating the results from a Drosophila genetic into a clinical research project can start before the time-consuming task of generating mouse models has been completed.
