As advanced sequencing technologies continue to uncover an increasing number of variants in genes associated with human genetic diseases, there is a growing demand for systematic approaches to assess the impact of these variants on human development, health, and disease. While in silico analyses have provided valuable insights, it is essential to complement these findings with model organism studies to determine the functional consequences of genetic variants in vivo. Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent genetic model for such functional studies due to its efficient genetic technologies, high gene conservation with humans, accessibility to mutant fly resources, short life cycles, and cost-effectiveness. The traditional GAL4-UAS system, allowing precise control of gene expression through binary regulation, is frequently employed to assess the effects of monoallelic variants. Recombinase medicated cassette exchange or CRISPR-Cas9-mediated GAL4 insertion within coding introns or substitution of gene body with Kozak-Gal4 result in the loss-of-function of the target gene. This GAL4 insertion strategy also enables the expression of reference complementary DNA (cDNA) or cDNA carrying genetic variants under the control of endogenous regulatory cis elements. Furthermore, the CRISPR-Cas9-directed tissue-specific knockout and cDNA rescue system provides the flexibility to investigate candidate variants in a tissue-specific and/or developmental-timing dependent manner. In this review, we will delve into the diverse genetic techniques available in Drosophila and their applications in diagnosing and studying numerous undiagnosed diseases over the past decade.
Introduction
Advantages of Using Drosophila As a Genetic Model for Studying Human Diseases
Determine the Impact of Monoallelic Variants Using GAL4-UAS System
Use of Null Alleles Created by Chemical and Transposable Element-Mediated Mutagenesis
Combination of RNA Interference with UASHuman cDNA Strategy
Generation of T2A-Gal4 Null Mutant Allele Using Recombinase Medicated Cassette Exchange (RMCE)
Generation of T2A-Gal4 Alleles Using CRIMIC
Kozak-Gal4 Null Mutant Generation via CRISPR-Cas9 Editing
CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Tissue-Specific Knockout and cDNA Rescue
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Funding
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