Drosophila is a sophisticated model system because of its well-characterized development, life cycle, genetics and genome. The events of Drosophila development are extremely well characterized and catalogued. An example of this high level of characterization of cell biology is the development of the peripheral nervous system.

The genetics and molecular biology allow easy identification, isolation and manipulation of a gene. The genome has been ordered, sequenced and annotated. Drosophila is a postgenome organism like yeast, C. elegans and Humans.

These technical advances and advantages allow the rigorous testing of models for the role of Hox genes in Drosophila development. Drosophila has also been used as model system for investigating the pathways associated with Human genetic conditions. For example in mammals, the homologue to extradenticle is an oncogene associated with leukemia.