Enhancing our understanding of the molecular responses to hypoxia in mammals using Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster has been used as a genetic model, especially in the past decade, to examine normative biological processes and disease conditions very effectively. These span a wide range of major issues such as aging, cancer, embryogenesis, neural development, apoptosis, and alcohol intoxication. Here, we detail how the Drosophila melanogaster can be used as a genetic model to study the molecular and genetic underpinnings of the response to hypoxia. In our study of the basis of anoxia tolerance, one of the potent approaches that we use is a mutagenesis screen to identify loss-of-function mutants that are anoxia sensitive. The major advantage of this approach is that it is not biased for any particular gene or gene product. Although our screen is in progress, we already have evidence that this approach is useful.