GAL Pals
Scientists often turn to the fruit fly Drosophila for its relatively simple (yet similar) tissues to our own. But peering into its brain is still mind-boggling. Over 8 years, researchers at The Flylight Project captured thousands of images of fly brains, while developing a genetic tool to tease these neuron tangles apart. By genetically modifying the flies’ DNA, they watch as specific enhancers help to switch on a gene called GAL4, lighting up each neuron with a random or stochastic combination of colourful fluorescence. Comparing these patterns in different cells allows the team to specifically label individual neurons (seen here in rainbow colours) – their branching forms revealing circuits within and between brain regions. The results of this painstaking work, involving 5000 different strains of fly, is now available as a public resource, aiding geneticists and brain researchers around the world.
Written by John Ankers
Image from work by Geoffrey Wilson Meissner and colleagues
Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA, USA
Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Published in eLife, February 2023
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