How stem cells maintain tissues has recently become an important question in the context of potential regenerative therapies and cancer origins and treatments in humans. However, stem cells can be hard to identify and study in complex organisms, so invertebrate model organisms have become an important vehicle for deciphering basic principles underlying stem cell function. Currently a handful of different types of stem cell are being actively studied in Drosophila and each system is making unique and complementary contributions. We have been studying Follicle Stem Cells (FSCs) in the Drosophila ovary.
