Taking Stock of the Drosophila Research Ecosystem

With a century-old history of fundamental discoveries, the fruit fly has long been a favored experimental organism for a wide range of scientific inquiries. But is not a "legacy" model organism; technical and intellectual innovations continue to revitalize fly research and drive advances i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genetics (Austin) 2017-07, Vol.206 (3), p.1227-1236
Main Authors: Bilder, David, Irvine, Kenneth D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biology
Community involvement
Community participation
Drosophila
Drosophila - genetics
Ecosystem biology
Ecosystems
Fruit flies
Gene expression
Genetic engineering
Genetic Techniques
Genetics
Genetics - economics
Genetics - manpower
Genetics - statistics & numerical data
Genomes
Infrastructure
Insects
Methods
Models, Animal
Organisms
Proteins
Reagents
Regeneration
Researchers
Studies
Toolkits
Traditions
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Summary:With a century-old history of fundamental discoveries, the fruit fly has long been a favored experimental organism for a wide range of scientific inquiries. But is not a "legacy" model organism; technical and intellectual innovations continue to revitalize fly research and drive advances in our understanding of conserved mechanisms of animal biology. Here, we provide an overview of this "ecosystem" and discuss how to address emerging challenges to ensure its continued productivity. researchers are fortunate to have a sophisticated and ever-growing toolkit for the analysis of gene function. Access to these tools depends upon continued support for both physical and informational resources. Uncertainty regarding stable support for bioinformatic databases is a particular concern, at a time when there is the need to make the vast knowledge of functional biology provided by this model animal accessible to scientists studying other organisms. Communication and advocacy efforts will promote appreciation of the value of the fly in delivering biomedically important insights. Well-tended traditions of large-scale tool development, open sharing of reagents, and community engagement provide a strong basis for coordinated and proactive initiatives to improve the fly research ecosystem. Overall, there has never been a better time to be a fly pusher.
ISSN:1943-2631
0016-6731
1943-2631
DOI:10.1534/genetics.117.202390