CRISPR knock-in approaches in Drosophila.

Scott J. Gratz, Fiona P. Ukken, C. Dustin Rubinstein, Gene Thiede, Laura K. Donohue, Alexander M. Cummings, and Kate M. O'Connor-Giles. Highly Specific and Efficient CRISPR/Cas9-Catalyzed Homology-Directed Repair in Drosophila. Genetics genetics.113.160713; early online January 29, 2014

Methods review on genome engineering in flies--Updated 2-3-2014

Beumer KJ and Carroll D. Targeted genome engineering techniques in Drosophila. Methods. 2014 Jan 8. pii: S1046-2023(13)00455-6. PMID: 24412316.

2-3-2014 update: Another review on fly genome engineering approaches.

Bassett AR, Liu JL. CRISPR/Cas9 and Genome Editing in Drosophila. J Genet Genomics. 2014 Jan 20;41(1):7-19. PMID: 24480743.

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Large-scale in vivo RNAi screen of conserved genes looks at glia

Ghosh A, Kling T, Snaidero N, Sampaio JL, Shevchenko A, Gras H, Geurten B, Göpfert MC, Schulz JB, Voigt A, Simons M. A Global In Vivo Drosophila RNAi Screen Identifies a Key Role of Ceramide Phosphoethanolamine for Glial Ensheathment of Axons. PLoS Genet. 2013 Dec;9(12):e1003980. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003980. PMID: 24348263; PMCID: PMC3861124.

Methods paper discusses in vivo RNAi for studying oogenesis

This new Methods journal paper from Hudson & Cooley on Drosophila oogenesis includes discussion of in vivo RNAi. Table 1 for example lists relevant Gal4 drivers useful for (among other things) RNAi-based interrogation of germline or somatic tissues in the fly ovary.

Hudson AM, Cooley L. Methods for studying oogenesis. Methods. 2014 Jan 16. pii: S1046-2023(14)00006-1. PMID: 24440745.

Methods paper on fly cell lines

This new paper in Methods from L. Cherbas & L. Gong should be a great resource for those interested in using Drosophila cells in research studies.

Cherbas L, Gong L. Cell lines. Methods. 2014 Jan 13. PMID: 24434506.

Shaken, then swirled.

On my desk to read today? This new report of a Drosophila cell-based RNAi screen for which the researchers used a mechanical assay--shake, swirl, shake--to interrogate cell-cell adhesion.

Toret CP, D'Ambrosio MV, Vale RD, Simon MA, Nelson WJ. A genome-wide screen identifies conserved protein hubs required for cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion. J Cell Biol. 2014 Jan 20;204(2):265-79. PMID: 24446484.

GFP assay & innate immunity

This paper describes a new assay in S2 cells related to innate immunity.

Yang B, Lu A, Peng Q, Ling QZ, Ling E. Activity of fusion prophenoloxidase-GFP and its potential applications for innate immunity study. PLoS One. 2013 May 23;8(5):e64106. PMID: 23717543; PMCID: PMC3662757.