Sixty percent of disease related genes in humans have conserved counterparts in flies. Virtually all of the signaling pathways implicated in cancer, metabolic diseases, and congenital birth defects are conserved in flies.

The MGH Drosophila Genetics Core allows researchers the opportunity to benefit directly from the vast resources and knowledge that Drosophila offers as a genetically amenable, rapidly growing and relatively inexpensive model system. 

Drosophila offers an alternative approach to addressing questions that are difficult or impossible in higher organisms and humans.

Director: Liz Perkins, Ph.D.
Phone: (617) 724-1618
Fax: (617) 726-5057
Email: lperkins@partners.org

Core Manager: Martha Reed, Ph.D.
Phone: (617) 724-1625
Fax: (617) 726-5057
Email: mlreed@partners.org

The Core is located in the  Simches Research Center, CPZN 6.100,  MGH, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA.

Major Equipment offered by the Core includes a modern and fully functional Drosophila genetics laboratory and media kitchen.

• Drosophila Media:  The Core maintains a state of the art media kitchen for the production of high quality fly media.  We have the flexibility to produce media in narrow for wide vials as well as bottles.  Vials and bottles are closed with FLUGS to prevent flies escaping and mites entering.

          Media in narrow vials (25mm O.D. x 95mm H) + flugs                             
          Media in wide vials (28.5mm O.D. x 95mm H) + flugs
          Media in bottles + flugs

• Research Services:  The Core is pleased to offer to researchers a comprehensive Drosophila Genetics Laboratory and access to personnel with over 35 years of combined fly research experience.  This allows non-fly labs to take advantage of Drosophila as a model system to enhance their research and to ask questions not possible or feasible in their own labs.
  
  Consultation:  Dr. Perkins extends an invitation to researchers to discuss the potential benefits to their research of using Drosophila as a model system.  There will be no charge for this "brainstorming" session.  
           
  Training: Training sessions are offered to researchers wishing to incorporate fly genetics and/or current fly technologies into their research.
           
  Genetics:  Routine genetic services are offered to researchers, including, but not limited to, fly husbandry, chromosome building, transgene recovery and stabilization, and experimental crosses.
  
  Transgenesis:  A central element contributing to the power of Drosophila as a model system, is the ability to rapidly generate transgenic animals for in vivo expression studies.  Given high quality DNA from researchers, the Core offers to generate 1 or more stable transgenic lines able to express the incorporated DNA.                                                  
  
  Population genetics:  Biochemical analysis often require large quantities of biological samples.  In this regard, the Core will amplify specific fly stocks will the goal to generate large quantities of stage specific flies (e.g., adult flies, sex specific and/or stage specific embryos, larvae, pupae, or adults, sex specific.
  
  Maintain stocks:  The Core maintains a full complement of stocks commonly used in fly genetics.  Additionally, the Core will store and maintain fly stocks researchers generate or use in the course of their experiments.
  

• Gene and Pathway Discovery Services:  The Core is proud to offer 2 services specifically tailored to the individual needs of researchers to either identify the genetic pathway in which a gene functions or discover genes that modify or work with a particular gene of interest.  To ensure the success of these experiments, the researcher and Core Director will carefully design a specific plan of action with predicted outcomes.  It is expected that these studies will highlight new avenues of investigation, generate data that will enhance a scientific publication and/or provide the preliminary results for grant proposal.

Pathway Search  - For a researcher interested in a gene of uncertain function, the Core offers genetic tests that can lead to the identification of the genetic or signaling pathway in which the gene acts (e.g., cell proliferation and growth, apoptosis or cell degeneration, cell fate specification and/or differentiation, cell migration).  This phenotypic data could establish a protocol that would form the basis of a genetic screen for gene discovery (below).

Genetic Screens - The power of Drosophila genetics lies in its utility as a tool for gene discovery.  Several avenues exist whereby new genes or novel genetic interactions can be revealed from an F1 genetic screen.  The Core will work with researchers to design and execute a genetic screen that will achieve their individual goals and likely result in future avenues of investigation.

To access the core for the first time, please contact Liz Perkins at (617) 724-1618 or by email at
lperkins@partners.org.

To access the core for daily issues, please contact Martha Reed at (617) 724-1625 or by email at mlreed@partners.org.