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Genetic transformation in Drosophila by microinjection of DNA

Abstract

THE experiments described here provide new evidence for DNA-induced gene-specific alterations in Drosophila. Host embryos homozygous for recessive alleles of several genes were treated with wild-type DNA by embryo microinjection. Several of the adults which developed from these injected embryos exhibited phenotypic alterations whereas none of the controls treated with host-type DNA showed any altered phenotype. In addition, the alterations were in two cases transmitted to the progeny of the injected flies, so that altered stocks could be established. If this represents genetic transformation and if it can be made to work routinely in eukaryotes, it promises to be equally or more useful than the corresponding process in prokaryotes, since it could be used to bioassay specific parts of the genome which are currently being isolated by various techniques.

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GERMERAAD, S. Genetic transformation in Drosophila by microinjection of DNA. Nature 262, 229–231 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/262229a0

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