CAN THEY FASTER? –
June 5, 2025 – For the first time, researchers have created genetically modified fruit flies that can become addicted to cocaine. The flies will self-administer cocaine if given the option. The new model could prove immensely valuable for the development of new therapies to prevent and treat cocaine use disorder, a growing and deadly concern that affects about 1.5 million people nationwide.
Heredity strongly influences the risk of getting hooked on the illegal drug, but the large number of genes implicated in addiction risk has made it difficult to determine which might be the best targets for therapeutics.
With their new fruit fly model of cocaine use disorder, the researchers hope to reveal the biology of addiction and find better therapies much faster than was previously possible. The new results are published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
