Events 2021-2022

"Use of the Fruit fly (Drosophila) and Zebra fish (Danio rerio) as model organisms for dissecting the aetiology of human diseases".

Dr. Upendra Nongthomba, PhD

DBGL, Dept. of Molecular Reproduction Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560012, INDIA.

Extensive sequencing of genomes of patients suffering from diverse disorders/diseases has led to the identification of many causative mutations responsible for the pathological conditions of the diseases. However, because of the complexity of the human genome, it’s still a challenge to deduce the genotype-phenotype correlation accurately. Moreover, not much is known about the aetiology of these diseases. Since many of the disease-causing genes exhibit not only high structural/residue conservations but also perform similar functions in humans and other species, we have been using genetically amenable organisms like Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) and Danio rerio (Zebra fish) to dissect the aetiology of human diseases and disorders, including protein aggregate myopathies, neurodegenerative diseases, many rare diseases, and epilepsies. The drawback with human genetic studies is that one may map and study the phenotype of genetic disorder but may not understand how the disease phenotype is achieved. Drosophila and Zebrafish genotype/phenotype studies may illuminate this. It is conceivable that such a study has the potential to unravel fundamental mechanisms involved, thus providing insight into human diseases but also serve as a resource for developing therapeutic interventions, like the development of diagnostic kits and ameliorating drugs. I highlighted some of these concepts in this talk.