The Wallerian degeneration pathway has been further illuminated by the discovery that sterile alpha and TIR motif containing 1 (SARM1) protein plays a central role in the Wallerian degeneration pathway. The gene was first identified in a Drosophila melanogaster mutagenesis screen, and subsequently knockouts of its homologue in mice showed robust protection of transected axons comparable to that of WldS.[41][42]