From the past several decades, neuroscientists have been focusing on
understanding the mechanisms of various human neurodegenerative diseases using
different models such as Mouse, Rat, Zebrafish, worm and the Drosophila. Among
them, the Drosophila, with a short generation time and genetic amenity, has emerged
as a vital and prevailing model system to explore multiple aspects of neurodegenerative
diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease,
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, etc. In this chapter, we have presented various
molecular, genetic and therapeutic approaches employed to model human
neurodegenerative diseases using Drosophila. Furthermore, we also present the
worldwide prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases, along with a survey of published
literatures of research conducted in the last two decades on major neurodegenerative
diseases employing transgenic Drosophila, to evaluate where we stand.
Keywords: Neurodegeneration, Senile plaques, Neurofibrillary tangles, α-
Synuclein, Huntingtin, CAG repeat, MARCM system, GAL4 /UAS binary
system, CRISPR-Cas system, Therapeutics.