Dr. Francois Bolduc keeps more than 300,000 fruit flies in a
basement laboratory, where he manipulates their genes and then
tests their mental abilities. He's called the "fly guy," and he
may sound like a comic book villain, but Bolduc is no mad
scientist. A new recruit to the University of Alberta's Faculty
of Medicine & Dentistry, Bolduc has shown that genetically
disrupting a specific gene called FMR1 in a fruit fly's brain
will wipe out its long-term memory. Bolduc has also found a
class of drugs that helps fruit flies with this disrupted gene
to regain their memories. The news is significant for humans,
because FMR1 may malfunction in people with intellectual
disabilities like Fragile X syndrome, and there are currently no
clinically available treatments. Fragile X syndrome is the most
common cause of genetically defined developmental delays in
humans, affecting 1 in 4,000 males and 1 in 8,000 females.
Children with Fragile X syndrome may have learning and memory
problems, epilepsy and autism. "We know t