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Ohio University scientist Daewoo Lee produces two plastic vials, each containing dozens of fruit flies that look like wriggling kernels of brown rice, and raps them quickly against his desk. In the left vial, the flies grow agitated and spring upward. In the right vial, the flies flutter but stick close to the bottom. The latter insects were bred to exhibit Parkinson's disease, and like humans afflicted with the condition, their motor skills are poor. Lee and other biologists have found these tiny bugs to be a good laboratory model for studying the cause of and possible cures for human neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, which affects more than 1 million Americans. Genetically speaking, humans aren't too different from the average fruit fly. "Two-thirds of the genes in the fruit fly are also found in the human genome. And most genes probably share the same function," says Lee, who joined the University this fall as an assistant professor of biological sciences. The scientist is using the fly to search for the genes responsible for regulating communication between neurons in the brain. When the neurons stop exchanging signals, brain function is impaired. Scientists don't know whether Parkinson's disease is caused by this communication breakdown or if it's a symptom of the condition. Lee hopes the fruit fly will offer some clues. While it takes many years for Parkinson's to show up in humans, the short life span of the insect, about one to two months, allows scientists to watch the disease progress quickly. Lee examines the neurons under a microscope and uses tiny electrodes to detect electrical activity in the fruit fly brain. In the future, Lee hopes to use the fruit fly to test new drugs that could treat Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases. next--> Changing our perception of nature