Conditional cell ablation in Drosophila.

Targeting of cell ablation agents under the control of tissue-specific promoters promises to be an important tool for studies of development and function in higher organisms. Temperature-sensitive cell ablation agents, recently developed for Drosophila, extend control to temporal as well as spatial aspects of toxin expression. Here we discuss achievements to date, together with a novel form of enhancer trap technology with the potential for driving toxin expression in a large range of cell types.