Alzheimer’s disease is a relentless illness, closely linked to old age. Given that human life expectancy is rising each year, the potential impact of this condition is set to increase too. At UCL’s Institute of Healthy Ageing, Professor Dame Linda Partridge and her team are working to understand the precise mechanisms underpinning the condition. Perhaps surprisingly, fruit flies are a near-perfect animal model for helping scientists untangle the biological complexities at the heart of Alzheimer’s disease. In this short film, Linda and her team explain how.