The recent sequencing of the Drosophila genome as a collaborative effort between the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP) and Celera Genomics provides an unparalleled opportunity to assess the prevalence of human disease gene counterparts in the fly genome (Adams et al. 2000; Rubin et al. 2000). Previous surveys based upon limited data available during earlier phases of the sequencing project have suggested that >50%, and perhaps as many as 75%, of human disease genes are conserved in Drosophila (Banfi et al. 1996; Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project 1999; Pickeral et al. 2000). With the virtually complete sequence now in hand, we were able to perform a more comprehensive survey, resulting in the finding that 178 out of 287 human disease genes (62%) appear to be conserved in the fly (Rubin et al....

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