Toward a Complete Set of Germline Null and Modifiable Mutations in Drosophila

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this proposal is to generate, maintain, and distribute a new collection of engineered Drosophila melanogaster stocks that will allow versatile manipulation of genes for which there is currently no mutant allele available. Using cutting edge CRISPR technology, this collection or 'kit' will represent a powerful new set of tools that will benefit virtually all Drosophila geneticists, and it is likely that there will b a high demand for this resource formany years. Many of the most important advances in our understanding of human development have come from studies using Drosophila as an animal model system. Since many parallels exist between Drosophila and mammals in terms of the underlying molecular mechanisms controlling biological processes, knowledge gained from research in Drosophila can be either directly applied or readily adapted to understanding human biology. One key factor that sets Drosophila apart from other model systems is the huge wea