Extending further from their work published in Nature journal (322)

At first glance, the left and right sides of our bodies are identical to one-another. However, internally, as we dig deeper, some of our visceral organs are displaced to one side. Our hearts are larger on the left than the right, brains also show significant differences and when one take a look at long coil of guts with appendix near one end, it generally folds one side or to the another – but most interesting aspect for biologists in the field is that how things so consistently folds over in …

In Drosophila melanogaster, heart precursor cells originate from the dorsal-most region of the mesoderm in response to Decapentaplegic(dpp) and wingless (wg) signalling. These cardiac precursor cells later form heart-like organ called the dorsal vessel. The Drosophila heart is a simple organ composed of two major cell types: cardioblasts, which form the simple contractile tube of the heart, and pericardial cells, which flank the cardioblasts. (1854)

A Postdoctoral Fellow position is available immediately to join the group of Matias Simons in Freiburg, Germany. The group investigates the mechanisms controlling planar cell polarity and membrane trafficking using cell culture, Drosophila melanogaster and mouse as experimental models [EMBO Journal, advance online publication; Current Biology 2010 Jul 27;20(14):1269-76, Nat Cell Biol. 2009 Mar;11(3):286-94, Annu Rev Genet. 2008;42:517-40, Nat Genet. 2005 May;37(5):537-43]. We are particularly interested in the role of these processes in human genetic diseases such as polycystic kidney and lysosomal storage diseases. The lab is funded by the …

In sexually reproducing organisms, germ cells give rise to gametes (egg and sperms) and these germ cells can be specified by two mechanisms 1) either by maternally inherited determinants (as observed in fruit fly Drosophila) or 2) by inductive signals (as observed in Mice).
Based on Studies in Drosophila melanogaster (evolutionary derived or higher insects) use a process called maternal inheritance, in which the mother deposits vital proteins and RNAs into the eggs before they are laid. This material, called germ plasm, later causes the cells containing it to …

The ability of the eye of a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to respond to light depends on a delicate ballet that keeps the supply of light sensors called rhodopsin constant as photoreceptors turn on and off in response to light exposures, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (http://www.nri.texaschildrens.org/) at Texas Children’s Hospital in an article that appears online in the journal PLOS Biology (http://www.plosbiology.org/home.action). (109)

The wing of a fruit fly may hold the key to unraveling the genetic and molecular events that transform a normal cell into a cancerous one. The study, conducted on Drosophila melanogaster by scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and led by ICREA researcher Marco Milán, has reproduced each of the steps known to take place when a healthy cell turns cancerous. The researchers have thus provided an inexpensive and effective model that will allow the scientific community to scrutinize the genes and molecules involved in …