drosophila

Many studies have linked more sleep to better memory, but new research in fruit flies at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis demonstrates that extra sleep helps the brain overcome catastrophic neurological defects that otherwise would block memory formation.

Paul Shaw, PhD, a researcher at the School of Medicine, has used what he learns in fruit flies to look for markers of sleep loss in humans. But now he has reversed the process in a new paper, taking what he finds in humans back to the flies and identifying a human gene that is more active after sleep deprivation.

<img src="/news/PublishingImages/4048_t.jpg" alt="Pretty fly — for a fruit fly. The areas stained blue are regions in the fruit fly where the spineless gene is expressed.” height=”211″ width=”150″ />Pretty fly – for a fruit fly. The areas stained blue are regions in the fruit fly where the spineless gene is expressed.A team of researchers that includes biologists from Washington University in St. Louis has discovered that a gene involved in the development and function of the fruit fly antenna also gives the organism its color vision. Claude Desplan, Ph.D., professor of biology at New York University, and his students made the discovery and provided the data. Ian Duncan, Washington University professor of biology, and his wife, research assistant Dianne Duncan, provided the Desplan laboratory fruit fly (Drosophila) clones and mutants and technical assistance that helped locate where the gene, called spineless, is expressed in the retina. More…

Drosophila melanoFor years, two schools of thought have dominated neurobiologists’ theories about how early nerve cells develop specialties that allow the assembly of a mature brain. One theory suggests master regulators trigger the development, while the other attributes the development to interactions between local factors. In a new study of developing fruit fly brain cells, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine and Harvard University showed that both models are valid.

Drosophila melanoFor years, two schools of thought have dominated neurobiologists’ theories about how early nerve cells develop specialties that allow the assembly of a mature brain. One theory suggests master regulators trigger the development, while the other attributes the development to interactions between local factors. In a new study of developing fruit fly brain cells, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine and Harvard University showed that both models are valid.