Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Fruit fly wing research reshapes understanding of how organs form

Scientists at Rutgers University discovered that when they would manipulate cells in order for them to divide differently the fruit flies wing shape remained the same. This finding could potentially change how we understand organ formation. It is possible with further research we will have the ability to diagnose and treat human genetic diseases that affect organ development even before the disease becomes evident. It was previously believed that the shape of fruit flies wings were from how the cell was organized while dividing, however, that is not the case. Studies will continue in hopes to pinpoint where exactly organ shape is controlled.
developing fruit fly wing the colors are marked clones and the shape of the clones
It's interesting to see how much the common fruit fly has assisted in human genetics, their small size and convenience has led to groundbreaking findings. The fact that we can use these insects to observe how human organs form and how we can manipulate the cells to avoid genetic diseases.

1 comment:

  1. This is really cool because if they use this information to pinpoint organ shape it could help so many people. It really is amazing that the information found from fruit flies is so vastly used to help in other species in the world.

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