Telangana Hyderabad CCMB researchers use fruit flies to find a cure for microcephaly
Could the little fruit fly help us unravel the puzzles surrounding the evolution of the human brain? In order to get a better understanding of how the human brain develops and to discover a cure, researchers in hyderabad have genetically altered fruit flies to have microcephaly, a fatal developmental brain condition. There are molecular similarities between the brains of fruit flies and humans. Additionally, by using genetically altered fruit flies with tiny brains, researchers may be able to create treatments for the illness that affects newborns.
Humans possess the same genes that generate tiny brain conditions in fruit flies, and mutations in these genes also result in microcephaly. Certain mutations affect the data-size of neural stem cells, leading to aberrant cell division or premature death of the stem cells. Researchers from all around the globe are using fruit flies to learn more about intellectual disorders caused by the underdevelopment of the human brain and to try to create remedies for them.
The behaviour of fruit flies with small brains has the potential to provide a model system that will enable the testing of possible medications for the treatment of disorders connected to the brain, according to the CCMB researcher. Numerous state-of-the-art investigations and peer-reviewed scholarly articles have demonstrated striking parallels between the ways in which the human and fly brains control behaviour. Compared to the billions of neurons in the human brain, a fruit fly's over one lakh neurons offer the perfect environment for study aimed at improving our understanding of the human brain.
The behaviour of fruit flies with small brains has the potential to provide a model system that will enable the testing of possible medications for the treatment of disorders connected to the brain, according to the CCMB researcher. Numerous state-of-the-art investigations and peer-reviewed scholarly articles have demonstrated striking parallels between the ways in which the human and fly brains control behaviour. Compared to the billions of neurons in the human brain, a fruit fly's over one lakh neurons offer the perfect environment for study aimed at improving our understanding of the human brain.