How much do we look like flies?

• April 26, 2024

How is the reproduction of flies? Males and females of the species Drosophila melanogaster, better known as "vinegar fly", constantly fly around us; They are wild insects that have adapted to the environment. These characteristics make them very useful in scientific research related to genes.

Geneticists mainly need mutant flies. Although they exist in the nature, such insects are rare and the possibility of finding them is scarce, for that reason, the necessity arises to count on a place where this type of organisms was available; and there begins an adventure that takes more than three decades.

The driving force is the Dr. Patricia Ramos , who founded in 1979 a bank of culture of flies within the Faculty of Sciences of the UNAM.

The mutant collection consists of species donated by the banks of the Kyoto Technological Institute , from the universities of Indiana, Arizona and San Diego; in addition to others built within the university bank itself. It also has a variety of family flies Drosophilidae and Phoridae, who share some eating habits with humans.

The "black fly", for example, is carnivorous and useful in studies that try to explain how our body adapted to meat intake. The "fruit fly" is another species appreciated by researchers. It is the little worm that we can find when opening a mango. Following and analyzing it is relevant, because it becomes a pest and generates losses in fruit production.

But the most attractive to scientists is the "vinegar fly". He lives in our environment and, like humans, he likes fruit. Dr. Ramos points out that this resemblance is very useful, since some researcher could use it as a model to investigate the possible effect of transgenic fruits on humans.

In addition, this animal model serves in the study of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's; also, in the analysis of behaviors such as courtship and aggressiveness; and in the evaluation of pharmacological treatments.

Another advantage of studying it is access to large quantities. A fertile female is capable of producing 500 insects in just 10 days. Each one gets to live from days to months in an environment at 25 ° C, which allows to speed up the time of research and explore effects on longevity.

Since 1997, the Bank of Flies of the FC is registered as Drosophila Stock Center Mexico before the main centers of cultivation worldwide.

The genome projects showed that the human and fly genomes share almost 70% of the genes. The funny thing is that some of the shared genes are associated with human diseases. This has allowed researchers to understand the genetic mechanisms of different disorders through flies.

To know and know more about the flies you can consult the page: //bancodemoscas.fciencias.unam.mx/

Video Medicine: Can Flies Actually Fly in a Vacuum Chamber? (April 2024).