Memo to Palin: Fruit Fly Researchers Receive Nobel Prize for Medicine for Advancing the Understanding of Birth Defects in Humans

"This is the most mindless, ignorant, uninformed comment that we have seen from Governor Palin so far, and there's been a lot of competition for that prize." - Richard Wolfe, Newsweek

Memo To Palin: Fruit Fly Researchers Receive Nobel Prize for Medicine for Advancing the Understanding of Birth Defects in Humans

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NOBEL PRIZE FOR GENETICS OF DEVELOPMENT 1995 STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Three biologists have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their pioneering work on the genetic control of embryonic development. The researchers work with the Drosophila melanogaster fruit fly provided key information on factors influencing human embryology and birth defects. The recipients of this year's prize are Drs. Edward Lewis, of the California Institute of Technology; Christiane Nuesslein-Volhard, of Germany's Max-Planck Institute; and Eric Wieschaus, at Princeton. Each of the three were involved in the early research to find the genes controlling development of the Drosophila fruit fly.

The fruit fly, now a standard model in genetic research, is an ideal research animal since it develops from fertilized egg to embryo within nine days. "Most of the genes studied by Nuesslein-Volhard, Wieschaus and Lewis have important functions during the early development of the human embryo. It is likely that mutations in such important genes are responsible for some of the early, spontaneous abortions that occur in man, and for some of the about 40 percent of the congenital malformations that develop due to unknown reasons,'' according to a statement from Sweden's Karolinska Institute.

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When Palin speaks in a mocking tone about the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars to study "fruit flies", she shows her complete ignorance about biomedical research and the significance of “flies” as they are fondly referred to by geneticists.

Scientists rely on model organisms like Drosophila (fruit flies) and C. elegans (a nematode worm or just a “worm” to a geneticist) to study the molecular basis of biological processes and disease. The knowledge gained about disease processes and the function of proteins like potassium channels which play an essential role in the function of the heart have helped to develop better, safer drugs.

The major safety factor that causes a drug to be withdrawn from the market or its further study to be terminated during drug development is the effects of that drug on a potassium channel that was originally identified in fruit flies, the ether-a-go-go protein. The human counterpart to this potassium channel plays a key role in the rhythmic contractions of the heart. Many drugs, particularly antihistamines, block this potassium channel resulting in fatal arrhythmias. Unfortunately, in some cases, these potentially fatal drug interactions were not known until after the drug had been placed on the market and used in people that resulted in numerous deaths.

This is just one example of how the study of fruit flies and other model organisms has given scientists the knowledge and tools to advance our understanding of biological processes that result in human disease. Even now, in the laboratories of world-renowned geneticists who study flies, research is underway to further our understanding of how chromosome pairs split apart during maturation of the ovum (or egg) and how this process can go awry resulting in diseases like Downs syndrome. Trig, maybe when you grow up you can explain all of this science stuff to your mom.

Kathy E. Mitchell, Ph.D., Biophysicist mom (of five), stem cell biologist with lip stick
Columbia MD

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