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Seeing through the eyes of flies

Ryan West

  • 26 September 2014
    7pm - 7.15pm

  • York Medical Society (map)

  • FREE admission
    No booking required

  • Wheelchair accessible (through the garden)

Event details

Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) are commonly regarded as the most genetically manageable model organism used in research. In fact there is a significant similarity of genes between them and humans, with 70% of human disease-causing genes having a counterpart in flies.

Our research focuses on using fruit flies to understand the genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease, particularly the visual impairments reported in patients. By recording the electrical responses of the visual system we are developing a greater understanding of it and how Parkinson’s disease causes mutations which may affect the visual system, and the nervous system.

This is one of twelve thought-provoking short talks throughout the evening at York Medical Society on all things health-related by researchers from across eight different departments at the University of York. The talks are divided into three sessions over four hours, starting at 5pm and ending at 9.20pm, which are interspersed with refreshments and a chance to speak to the researchers, some of whom have been researching for years and some of whom are just at the start of their careers.