Overview

• Researchers have engineered fruit flies that willingly self-administer cocaine, marking the first insect model of addiction.
• By muting bitter taste receptors, the flies develop a cocaine-laced sugar water preference within 16 hours of first exposure.
• The model mirrors human drug responses, triggering increased locomotion at low doses and incapacitation at high doses.
• With their short lifecycle and genetic similarity to humans, fruit flies allow high-throughput screening of addiction risk genes.
• The platform sets the stage for faster discovery of genetic targets and therapies for the 1.5 million Americans affected by cocaine use disorder.