Drosophila melanogaster: A Genome Sequenced
- Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis 95616 USA
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
The release of the full genome sequence ofDrosophila melanogaster in March of 2000 must be heralded both as a milestone in Drosophila biology and genetics and as a triumph of modern biotechnology. But the true value of this accomplishment can be found in its beginnings, during a plenary session at a 1978 Drosophila meeting in La Jolla, California.
The first speaker of the session was peppered with questions as to whether investigators had “done the genetics” regarding the various natural polymorphisms he described. The second speaker, a future Nobel laureate, introduced himself with the response, “My name is Ed Lewis. I work on the Bithorax complex of genes, and yes, I've done the genetics.” This rather astounding bit of understatement highlighted a talk that described studies of a developmentally critical set of genes at the highest genetic resolution possible in Drosophila. Building on those very elegant genetic studies, the next talk, given by David Hogness, truly opened the door to the future ofDrosophila genetics. Hogness described a clear approach to the cloning and molecular analysis of the …
