Professor
Dang Thi Phuong Thao
University of Science, Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Title: Drosophila melanogaster: A TOOL TO LOOK INTO AND SCREEN DRUGS FOR HUMAN DISEASES
Selecting an appropriate model organism is a fundamental step in designing research aimed at understanding human diseases. Key considerations include physiological relevance, developmental biology, and the presence of genes orthologous to those implicated in the human condition under investigation. In addition to Drosophila, other research models—such as C. elegans, zebrafish, and mammalian systems—are widely used to capture specific physiological features that insects may not fully recapitulate. The complementary use of these models enables a more comprehensive exploration of disease mechanisms across biological scales.
Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as a particularly powerful and versatile model due to its high degree of evolutionary conservation with humans, including approximately 85% of human disease-related genes. Its short life cycle, high fecundity, and low maintenance costs enable rapid and reproducible experimentation, facilitating statistically robust analyses. Past studies using Drosophila have produced several landmark findings, such as the discovery of key signaling pathways (e.g., Notch, Hedgehog) that later proved fundamental to understanding human development and cancer. Moreover, Drosophila models of neurodegeneration have revealed conserved mechanisms of protein toxicity and neuronal loss, contributing to the identification of candidate therapeutic targets. These achievements underscore the model’s exceptional capacity to generate insights with broad translational impact.
In this work, we present several Drosophila disease models established at the University of Science, VNU-HCM, contributing to the investigation of major human disorders. These include models for neurodegenerative diseases, autism spectrum disorder, metabolic disorders, and cancer. Together, these models highlight the utility of Drosophila as a high-value platform for elucidating disease mechanisms and evaluating candidate therapeutic agents, while complementing insights gained from other established model systems.
Biography of the presenting author
Prof. Dang Thi Phuong Thao earned a Ph.D. in 2008 from Kyoto Institute of Technology, Japan. She is currently a Professor at the University of Science, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM). Her primary research focuses on the screening of natural compounds with pharmacological activities using cell culture and genetically modified fruit fly models, aiming to discover novel therapeutic agents. Additionally, she studies the expression and production of recombinant proteins for applications in medicine, food, and cosmetics. She also explores the application of yeast cell surface technology in the production of biological products for agriculture and aquaculture, and investigates gene and protein functions involved in human disease mechanisms using the fruit fly model.
Presenting author details
Full name: Dang Thi Phuong Thao
Contact number: 84 909420355
Email: dtpthao@hcmus.edu.vn
Position: Professor
Affiliation: University of Science, VNU-HCM, Vietnam
ORCID: 0000-0002-5713-323X