Fruit Flies Enter the Political Battle

The political fray has entered into the world of genetics, and as usual, our politicians have no real idea what they are talking about. In an October 24^th speech about children with special needs, Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for Vice-President, made the following statement about funding for IDEA, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

“This is a matter of how we prioritize the money that we spend. We've got a three trillion dollar budget, and Congress spends some 18 billion dollars a year on earmarks for political pet projects. That's more than the shortfall to fully fund the IDEA. And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good -- things like fruit fly research in Paris, France, or a public policy center named for the guy who got the earmark. In our administration, we're going to reform and refocus. We're going to get our federal priorities straight, and fulfill our country's commitment to give every child opportunity and hope in life” (Oct 24, 2008 speech)

There is no doubt that more money needs to be spent on research and education of people with disabilities. However, the assumption here is that fruit fly research is a waste of time and money. Nothing could be further from the truth. The simple fact that we have an understanding of genetics can be traced back to Thomas Hunt Morgan and the first use of fruit flies.Since then, four Nobel Prizes, including one to Thomas Hunt Morgan (1933), have gone to "fruit-fly" researchers. Obviously the scientific community values the contributions of the fruit fly to the study of genetics.

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has around 19,000 genes. In humans, if a disease is linked to a specific gene, there is around a 70% chance that a similar gene exists in Drosophila. Drosophila is a model organism for the study of many human-releated diseases, including behavior, aging disorders, Parkinson's, and Alzheimers

Research into Drosophila genomics paved the way for the Human Genome Project. In other words, research using fruit flies, and other model organisms such as the mouse, nematode (C. elegans), and weed (Arabidopsis thaliana) are critical towards our understanding of the molecular world of inheritance and disease.

Time to get some Straight Talk. We owe thanks to geneticists who use this model organism, not ridicule.

Additional links:

A Brief History of Drosophila’s Contributions to Genome Research

A Systematic Analysis of Human Disease-Associated Gene Sequences In Drosophila melanogaster

Homophila: human disease gene cognates in Drosophila

It May Not Pay to be Smart...If You Are a Fly

It pays be to smart.....doesn't it? Many of us struggled through years of undergraduate and graduate school just to get an upper-hand in the great game of life. But now, a new research article in the journal Evolution suggests that, at least for flies, being smart is going to cost you... in lifespan.

Researchers at the University of Lausanne bred flies that were "smarter" in responding to specific scents than other flies. When they took at look at the lifespan of these flies they realized that the "smart" flies lived about 15% less time than the , well, "not as smart" flies.

Drosophila are often used as model organisms for a variety of genetic studies. This study is important in that it may help shed some light on the "costs" of intelligence. By costs I mean what the organism has to give up in order to develop intelligence, and this is something that we really need to know if we are going to ever figure out how complex intelligence evolved on this planet. However, lets make something clear... these were not smart flies. Flies really aren't very bright, I know, I breed them. They are like fish in a tank... pretty to look at, but not much going on upstairs. So although we can use fruit flies for a variety of purposes, let us not give them credit for being smart.

What I worry about is what will happen when a sound-bite of this information gets out. We already have a problem keeping kids in school - telling them that straight A's will cost them 10 years of their life... well, that would be a mistake. Someone, somewhere, is going to use this information to justify dropping out of school and smoking 2 packs a day.... just watch.

My Friend, E. coli

While as a geneticist my vote would go to Drosophila melanogaster as the greatest organism of all time, I do recognize that Escherichia coli is probably one of the most beloved organisms of the biomedical research community. This versatile little microbe can be found in teaching and research labs from high schools to research institutions and large biomedical facilities. We probably know more about E. coli than almost any other organism on the planet, including ourselves. Many of the advances in medicine and drug development would probably not be possible if it were not for this wonderfully versatile little bacteria. But, as we are all aware, E. coli has a dark side.

The March 24 issue of New Scientist features an article ("Mystery Food Poisoning Traced to Salads") which presents statistics on the increase in the rate of food poisoning associated with salad greens. While the article does not specifically mention E. coli, if you asked the common person on the street what was causing the food poisoning in spinach and lettuce, most would guess this bacterium. In fact, E. coli is probably the only microbe, or any other organism for that matter, that most people know by its scientific name! Unfortunately, that recognition is not a good one. From baby diapers and water parks in the 1990s to ground beef and salad greens in this decade, E. coli has earned a reputation as a menace.

I have found that most students are surprised to find out that their intestines contain more bacterial cells than there are human cells in their bodies. Most are disgusted by the thought, and some actually pale when I mention that one of the leading organisms is E. coli. I have even had a few ask if they can get antibiotics from the campus health clinic to rid them of these "parasites."

After a brief discussion of why these little creatures are present in our system, and the benefits that they provide us by protecting us from harmful bacteria, synthesizing necessary vitamins, and stabilizing our blood glucose levels, most of the students develop a real appreciation for E. coli. From that point we can proceed to discussions on how important it is to keep your intestinal bacteria content by reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics and consuming plenty of fiber. It is then relatively easy to understand why probiotics, such as yogurt and Acidophilus pills, work as supplements. With a little public relations work, E. coli is transformed from the villain to a misunderstood hero.

Why is any of this important? In the March 1 edition of Science News, science writer Janet Raloff ("Nurturing Our Microbes") presents an intriguing possibility that someday it may be possible to reprogram our natural flora of microbes to combat disease. She first discusses how probiotic supplements may be used to increase the efficiency of intestinal bacteria in enhancing our immune system, by increasing the absorption of nutrients such as calcium and by regulating weight. Raloff then presents comments by Jeremy Nicholson of the Imperial College in London, who said that future drug therapies might one day be directed at the bacterial inhabitants of the intestinal system.

As a researcher, I think that is an important advance for medicine. We all know of the problems that have plagued large-scale implementation of gene therapy. Given the number of bacteria in the lumen of the gut, it should be possible to achieve a higher rate of transformation than is experienced in in vivo eukaryotic cells. Furthermore, by having the bacteria produce the drug of interest, it may be easier to get the drug directly into the bloodstream than traditional oral routes that need to navigate the hostile environment of the stomach.

And since this is an election year, and at least some of the focus appears to be on health care, the use of genetically modified E. coli may reduce the cost of certain medicines, since once transformed the individual would have a constant, renewable source of the drug.

However, before we proceed with the development of drug-producing recombinant bacteria, I would like to make a suggestion. If the drug companies state that they are ready to produce a genetically altered bacterium, especially one named E. coli, the general public is going to have a revolt.

Movies such as I Am Legend have not presented a pretty picture of genetically engineered organisms. Recent public responses to cloned meat, and once again to certain forms of immunizations, reveal that the general public is not convinced that we know what we are doing.

So my suggestion is this — start a public relations campaign on behalf of E. coli. Get E. coli, or its agent, on The Daily Show and Good Morning America. Start thinking about how to spin the benefits of E. coli to an increasingly research-phobic public. Work the media, begin ad campaigns, and most importantly, get the message out to the science teachers to incorporate it into their curriculum. For if we don't, this promising medical advance may be a tremendous waste of money.

Note: this article first appeared in the April 10, 2008 issue of BioWorld Perspectives, and is reproduced here by permission of AHC Media, LLC