Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Drosophila melanogaster as sentinel organism for hazard identification of environmental contaminants

This review highlights how the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is being used as a model organism to study the toxic effects of environmental pollutants, including microplastics, nanomaterials, and heavy metals. Researchers found that fruit flies offer genetic tools and measurable endpoints like survival, reproduction, and behavior that make them valuable for identifying hazards and discovering biomarkers. The study underscores the fruit fly's growing role in advancing our understanding of how environmental contaminants affect living organisms.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Drosophila melanogaster as a dynamic in vivo model organism reveals the hidden effects of interactions between microplastic/nanoplastic and heavy metals

Researchers used Drosophila melanogaster as an in vivo model to reveal that interactions between micro/nanoplastics and heavy metals produce combined toxic effects that are more severe than exposure to either contaminant alone.

2022 Journal of Applied Toxicology 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Drosophila melanogaster as a tractable eco-environmental model to unravel the toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics

This review summarizes research using fruit flies as a model to study how micro- and nanoplastics harm living organisms. Studies show these tiny plastic particles cause oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, and reproductive problems in flies, with males being more vulnerable than females -- findings that may help us understand similar risks in humans.

2024 Environment International 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Drosophila melanogaster as an indispensable model to decipher the mode of action of neurotoxic compounds

This review assessed Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism for studying the neurotoxic mechanisms of environmental contaminants, highlighting its genetic similarity to mammals and well-characterized neural architecture. The authors catalogued how different categories of neurotoxicants including pesticides, heavy metals, and plastic-associated chemicals affect Drosophila behavior and brain development.

2022 Biocell 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics and Microplastics and Their Impact on Male Reproduction—Uncovering the Hidden Hazards Using the Drosophila Model

Using Drosophila as a model organism, researchers investigated the impact of micro- and nanoplastics on male reproductive health, finding that exposure impaired reproductive output and sperm quality. The study validates Drosophila as an ethical, cost-effective model for assessing reproductive toxicity of microplastics.

2024
Article Tier 2

Exposure to microplastics cause gut damage, locomotor dysfunction, epigenetic silencing, and aggravate cadmium (Cd) toxicity in Drosophila

Researchers used fruit flies as a model to study the effects of microplastics alone and combined with cadmium, a toxic metal commonly used in plastic production. They found that microplastics caused size-dependent gut damage and enhanced cadmium's harmful effects on movement and gene regulation through epigenetic silencing. The study demonstrates that microplastics can amplify the toxicity of co-occurring environmental contaminants and suggests Drosophila as a useful tool for rapid microplastic toxicity screening.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 144 citations
Article Tier 2

Interactions of ingested polystyrene microplastics with heavy metals (cadmium or silver) as environmental pollutants: a comprehensive in vivo study using drosophila melanogaster

This study used fruit flies to investigate how polystyrene microplastics interact with two heavy metal pollutants — cadmium and silver — after ingestion. The combined exposures demonstrated that microplastics can alter the toxic effects of heavy metals, supporting the concern that microplastics act as carriers that change how harmful metals affect living organisms.

2022 Antalya Bilim University Institutional Repository
Article Tier 2

Application of Drosophila Melanogaster as the Test Object for Assessing the Environmental Status of Environmental Objects and Ecosystems

This is a Ukrainian-language abstract describing the use of fruit flies as test organisms for assessing ecological conditions — not a full research article with detailed findings to summarize.

2023
Article Tier 2

Drosophila melanogaster as potential alternative animal model for evaluating acute inhalation toxicity

Researchers tested fruit flies as an alternative animal model for studying inhalation toxicity of common antimicrobial chemicals. They found that higher exposure concentrations led to lower survival rates and impaired movement and neurological responses in the flies. The study suggests that fruit flies could serve as a reliable and efficient model for evaluating the harmful effects of inhaled substances.

2024 The Journal of Toxicological Sciences 4 citations
Article Tier 2

The effects of microplastics and nanoplastics upon history, policies, and Drosophila melanogaster

This study examined the effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, finding that dietary exposure to these pervasive environmental contaminants causes measurable biological harm and making the case for stronger regulatory policies.

2023
Article Tier 2

Effects of cadmium on oxidative stress and cell apoptosis in Drosophila melanogaster larvae

Researchers exposed fruit fly larvae to increasing doses of cadmium — a heavy metal pollutant — and found rising levels of DNA damage, oxidative stress (cell-damaging reactive oxygen), and activation of cell death genes, even at lower concentrations. The findings add to evidence that heavy metal contamination, which often accompanies plastic pollution in the environment, causes serious genetic and cellular harm to developing organisms.

2022 Scientific Reports 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Study on Chemically-induced Diet Alteration of Drosophila Melanogaster

This study used Drosophila melanogaster as an in vivo model to assess how chemical compounds — including plastic-associated chemicals — alter feeding behavior and development, evaluating the fruit fly's diet alteration response as a sensitive toxicity endpoint for environmental contaminant screening.

2025 Research Journal of Agricultural Science
Article Tier 2

Interactions of Ingested Polystyrene Microplastics with Heavy Metals (Cadmium or Silver) as Environmental Pollutants: A Comprehensive In Vivo Study Using Drosophila melanogaster

Researchers used Drosophila larvae to study polystyrene microplastic interactions with cadmium and silver, visualizing plastic passage through the intestinal barrier into hemolymph and finding that co-exposure to metals and microplastics produced synergistic toxic effects.

2022 Biology 35 citations
Article Tier 2

Transgenerational effects on development following microplastic exposure in Drosophila melanogaster

Researchers fed Drosophila melanogaster flies plastic-supplemented food and found that while treated flies showed changes in fertility and sex ratio, their unexposed offspring had shorter larval development and reduced adult size, demonstrating transgenerational developmental effects from parental microplastic exposure.

2021 PeerJ 41 citations
Article Tier 2

No evidence for behavioral or physiological effects of nanoplastics ingestion in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Researchers exposed Drosophila melanogaster to low and high concentrations of nanoplastics (1 µg/g and 1 mg/g) across several generations and measured emergence rate, mitochondrial activity, metabolism, body mass, and locomotion. No significant behavioral or physiological effects were detected, suggesting Drosophila may be less sensitive to nanoplastics than aquatic species.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics exacerbate lead exposure-induced developmental neurotoxicity by disrupting gut integrity in Drosophila

Researchers used Drosophila fruit flies to show that co-exposure to nanoplastics and lead is more neurodevelopmentally damaging than lead alone, with nanoplastics promoting lead accumulation in neural tissue, disrupting gut integrity, and worsening oxidative stress, learning deficits, and motor impairment — with female flies showing greater sensitivity.

2026 NeuroToxicology
Article Tier 2

Effects of PET microplastics on the physiology of Drosophila

Researchers used Drosophila fruit flies as a model to study the physiological effects of PET microplastics, finding that ingestion affected reproduction, lifespan, and gut function. The study suggests that even common plastic types found in food packaging can have measurable biological effects when consumed by living organisms.

2021 Chemosphere 66 citations
Article Tier 2

Polypropylene microplastics affect the physiology in Drosophila model

Researchers found that polypropylene microplastics negatively affected the physiology of Drosophila fruit flies, complementing earlier work on polyethylene terephthalate microplastics and demonstrating that different polymer types can impair organism health.

2023 Bulletin of Entomological Research 13 citations
Article Tier 2

A comparison of carbon dot and CdTe quantum dot toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster

Researchers compared the toxicity of carbon dots and cadmium telluride quantum dots using fruit flies as a model organism. They found that carbon dots were significantly less toxic than the cadmium-based quantum dots. The study suggests that carbon-based nanomaterials may offer a safer alternative for applications where quantum dots are currently used.

2024 Environmental Science Advances 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicological Profile of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Microplastic in Ingested Drosophila melanogaster (Oregon R+) and Its Adverse Effect on Behavior and Development

Researchers fed PET microplastics to fruit flies and found that the particles accumulated in their bodies and caused dose-dependent declines in movement, climbing ability, and survival rates. Higher microplastic concentrations also slowed the flies' development from larvae to adults. While fruit flies are a simple model organism, these behavioral and developmental effects suggest that chronic microplastic ingestion could impair neurological and physiological functions in animals exposed through their diet.

2023 Toxics 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyethylene microplastics affect behavioural, oxidative stress, and molecular responses in the Drosophila model

Fruit flies exposed to polyethylene microplastics showed reduced climbing and crawling ability, increased oxidative stress, and activation of genes involved in cell death and stress responses. The microplastics overwhelmed the flies' antioxidant defenses and triggered the same cellular damage pathways associated with disease in mammals. Since fruit flies share many biological pathways with humans, these findings suggest that microplastic exposure could cause similar oxidative damage and stress responses in human cells.

2024 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing genotoxic effects of plastic leachates in Drosophila melanogaster

Researchers exposed fruit flies to chemicals leached from conventional and oxodegradable polypropylene and polyethylene plastics and found that while the flies appeared healthy on the surface, their DNA suffered chromosomal damage and genetic instability in neural tissue. These findings raise concern that plastic leachates — chemicals that seep out of plastic waste — may carry hidden genetic risks for organisms living in contaminated soil.

2024 Chemosphere 7 citations
Article Tier 2

MultigenerationalEffects of Weathered PolyethyleneMicroplastics on Drosophila melanogaster

Researchers tracked multigenerational effects of weathered polyethylene microplastics on Drosophila melanogaster, finding that fitness effects including reduced fecundity and lifespan became more pronounced in later generations even when offspring were not directly exposed.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Exposure to polystyrene microplastic beads causes sex-specific toxic effects in the model insect Drosophila melanogaster

Researchers fed fruit flies (Drosophila) polystyrene microplastics and found toxic effects that differed between males and females. Exposed flies showed changes in feeding behavior, digestion, and excretion, with females experiencing greater reproductive impacts. This study is significant because it demonstrates that microplastic toxicity can be sex-specific, suggesting that health effects in humans might also differ between men and women.

2023 Scientific Reports 70 citations