Fruit Fly Enzyme Found That Repairs Oxidized DNA Damage

Breimer and colleagues, writing in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications in 1986, report the first identification of a DNA-repair enzyme in fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) cells. This is a laboratory study in cell extracts, not an animal or human trial.

The researchers found an enzyme, called a DNA glycosylase, in extracts from Drosophila embryos. This enzyme recognizes and removes a specific kind of damage: thymine bases (one of DNA's building blocks) that have been broken apart, likely by reactive molecules called hydroxyl radicals. The enzyme weighs about 40,000 daltons, works best on double-stranded polydeoxyribonucleotide (the technical term for a DNA strand), and needs no helper molecules or cofactors to function.

The paper is basic enzymology: it identifies and characterizes a repair enzyme, but does not test its activity in living organisms, measure how much damage it can reverse, or explore any therapeutic use. It establishes that fruit flies have this kind of DNA repair machinery, filling a gap in understanding how different species protect their genetic material from oxidative damage.