Abstract

Drosophila have been vectors for scientific research since the beginning of the 20th century. Their successful use within experiments that investigated mendelian genetics inspired their continuous application to biological research. This includes topics that detailed what is now known as innate immunity. The innate immune system of Drosophila is a first line of defense against pathogens. Innate immunity has been extensively researched and has reserved responses between Drosophila and mammals. Specifically, Drosophila have been experimentally targeted to draw conclusions on human infecting viruses such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-Cov-1). Such experiments modeled viral protein function resulting from viral gene expression. Drosophila can additionally be applied to research pertaining to the novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2). Using transgenic Drosophila that contain a modified SARS-CoV-2 gene would ultimately force expression of the chosen gene within ocular tissue. This ocular tissue can be isolated and properly stained to observe cell proliferation. Evaluating proliferation can help develop standard knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 infected cells. 1.

Keywords

Drosophila, Viral, Sars - Cov - 2, Infection, Proliferation

Document Type

Thesis

Year of Completion

2021

Major

Veterinary Technology

Advisor

Dr. Brummel

Academic Department

Biology

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