Modeling dilated cardiomyopathies in Drosophila.

During the past 100 years, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has provided tremendous insights into genetics and human biology. Drosophila-based research utilizes powerful, genetically tractable approaches to identify new genes and pathways that potentially contribute to human diseases. New resources available in the fly research community have advanced the ability to examine genome-wide effects on cardiac function and facilitate the identification of structural, contractile, and signaling molecules that contribute to cardiomyopathies. This powerful model system continues to provide discoveries of novel genes and signaling pathways that are conserved among species and translatable to human pathophysiology.