Protein tags regulate key ion channel
...ssium channels in yeast cells in 1995 and in fruit flies in 1996. Although potassium leak was first described in the 1950s when it was recognized to control excitation of nerves, the reason for leak had not previously been understood. The first human clone of this channel, K2P1, generated a good deal of e...Remote control flies?: Fly behavior controlled by laser light
...a little mind control over fruit flies, making the flies jump, beat their wings, and fly on command by trig...nts, jumping, and the beginnings of flight. If the flies engaged in these behaviors after the giant fiber neurons had been outfitted and "operated" with the ...New findings support a central role for NMDA receptors in learning and memory
...te an odor with a footshock--something that normal flies can quickly learn to do. The researchers found that flies with newly disrupted NMDA receptors could, with extended training, eventually learn to associate an ...Master gene controls healing of 'skin' in fruit flies and mammals
...the mutant flies' lesions were activated in normal flies in cells surrounding a wound created with a steril... that results in cuticle repair. Wounds in mutant flies that lack the grainyhead gene fail to heal. "The genes involved in cuticle repair are activated ver...Buying time through 'hibernation on demand'
...s yeast and worms, as well as the embryos of fruit flies and zebrafish. In each case they achieved metabolic suspension through oxygen deprivation caused by exposure to gases such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide. Known as oxygen mimetics, these chemicals are very similar to oxygen at the molecular ...Wisconsin researchers identify sleep gene
... has a powerful effect on the amount of time fruit flies sleep. In its normal state, the Drosophila (fruit...low through it. When the researchers first tested flies with the Shaker gene, they found that some of them with other mutations were normal sleepers. But th...Biologists determine genetic blueprint of social amoeba
...archers as a model genetic system, much like fruit flies and laboratory mice, to gain a better understanding of human diseases. The scientific details of this seven-year-long genetic sequencing effort, which involved 97 scientists from 22 institutions in five countries, are contained in a paper featured on...Mosaic mouse technique offers a powerful new tool to study diseases and genetics
...saic mice Geneticists have been using mosaic fruit flies for decades. In the early 1990s, scientists developed a more efficient technique that allows researchers to control when and where mutant cells are generated in the fly's body.However, scientists have had a much more difficult time designing mosaic ...UI researcher studies deafness in fruit flies, humans
...vered genetic defects leading to deafness in fruit flies that may shed light on deafness in humans. Their r...osin VIIA gene leads to complete deafness in fruit flies -- has brought scientists one step closer to understanding how such mutations result in inner-ear ab......m studied the newly-formed embryos of mutant fruit flies that lacked the gene for HOW, they found the timing for this early developmental stage was skewed. Cells divided to excess while the inward migration of the mesoderm-bound cells was delayed. Once mesoderm formation is complete, its cells undergo a n...Unrestrained retina too much of a good thing
...tion," noted Lemke. "It plays this role from fruit flies to humans. As a consequence, its expression must be highly regulated during development." Although the retina is obviously required for sight, Lemke points out that "it's possible to have too much of a good thing."...More than 'SNARE' needed for proper synapse
...ein through a special screening procedure in fruit flies that allows them to identify functional defects in the fly eye. They found that the mutant fly eyes that lacked Vha100-1 were blind, indicating that information was not being communicated, said Bellen. Using molecular genetics, electrophysiology, b...Longevity controlled by calorie quality, not quantity
...Mair, Matthew Piper, and Linda Partridge show that flies can actually live longer without reducing calories...tched from normal diets to yeast-restricted diets, flies were no more likely to die than flies fed the yeast-restricted diet from the beginning. In contrast,...Scientists find a maturity gene
...teenagers. When the DHR4 gene is disabled, fruit flies prematurely begin metamorphosis maturation from a...n the Friday June 3 issue of the journal Cell. The flies are abnormally small and die as they enter adulthood, sometimes when their heads fail to emerge from...Single gene is genetic switch for fly sexual behavior
...ene encodes the Fruitless protein. Male and female flies carry different versions of the fruitless protein,...ically male behaviors. They discovered that female flies with the male version of fruitless behave like males, directing at other females a sexual display ne...Studying glial cells in the roundworm may provide insight into human brain diseases
... the glial cells of other organisms, such as fruit flies and mice, to determine if it is acting in a similar way....Once given 'no respect,' cells' tiny RNAS take driver's seat
...n, cell specialization and cell death in worms and flies and are off-kilter in human cancers, but the Myc protein is the first factor identified that controls the production of microRNAs. Myc (pronounced "mick") is already known to regulate about 10 percent to 15 percent of the genes in the human genome, ...MicroRNA tweaks protein that controls early heart development
...might cause. They also are studying mice and fruit flies lacking miR-1. Dr. Srivastava said the field of ... all the known microRNA targets in worms and fruit flies to determine what they had in common, hoping to find clues to help predict unknown targets in mammal...Genes exert powerful effect on sexual behavior
... the manipulation of a single gene in female fruit flies can make their sexual behavior resemble that of ma...s," which is present in both male and female fruit flies and some other insect species. Ordinarily, only in males does this gene result in the creation of pr...Geneticists identify 'master switch' that causes female flies to behave like males
...le, the researchers found that when they took male flies and disabled the roughly 2 percent of brain cells ...instances in which the fruitless gene allowed male flies to detect smells that influenced their sexual behavior. Normally, while an inexperienced male often ...