Do they Eyes have it? Flies and finding a cure for Parkinson’s

In the latest Cafe Scientifique on February 3rd Dr Chris Elliott explained the research his team are undertaking into finding the cause of Parkinson’s and for disease-modifying therapies.

New animal models of Parkinson’s have been developed since the discovery (in 1997) that a small proportion of Parkinson’s is caused genetically.

Fruit flies have provided the best animal model to work with as they are easy to keep and scientists can experiment by inserting any gene or mutation into the fly. Although flies are not “little humans’ they do share 60-70% of human genes and, it was discovered, there are similarities in the function of the visual system in the flies and in humans.

The team works with medical partner Oliver Bandmann, Professor of Movement Disorders Neurology at the Sheffield Institute of Translational Research, and Consultant Neurologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.

More information about this research:

http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/pdf/10.2217/nmt.14.30