melanogaster in the drug discovery process. We also provide information and resources for those interested in pursuing fly models of human disease, as well as those interested in using D. Here, we review the basic biology of the fly and discuss models of human diseases and opportunities for therapeutic discovery for central nervous system disorders, inflammatory disorders, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. The fly can effectively be used for low- to high-throughput drug screens as well as in target discovery. melanogaster models of human diseases provide several unique features such as powerful genetics, highly conserved disease pathways, and very low comparative costs. melanogaster into the therapeutic discovery process holds tremendous promise for an enhanced rate of discovery of higher quality leads. New tools and platforms are needed in the discovery arena to overcome these limitations. The majority of positive hits identified through these types of in vitro screens, unfortunately, are found to be ineffective and/or toxic in subsequent validation experiments in whole-animal models. In the discovery process for therapeutics, traditional approaches employ high-throughput screening for small molecules that is based primarily on in vitro cell culture, enzymatic assays, or receptor binding assays.

melanogaster, and nearly 75% of human disease-causing genes are believed to have a functional homolog in the fly. Many basic biological, physiological, and neurological properties are conserved between mammals and D. The common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is a well studied and highly tractable genetic model organism for understanding molecular mechanisms of human diseases.

Fly brain dopaminergic neurons