While in most cases no D. melanogaster orthologs of a specific PD-linked gene exist, the flies can be readily genetically modified to mis-express the human gene either in its full length or mutant form118, with mutated α-synuclein linked to familial PD, A30P and A53T being expressed in the flies to enable modelling of PD119. Here, SNCA is linked to Parkinson disease.