An evaluation of Drosophila as a model system for studying tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease.

•Fly is an excellent model for studying tauopathies including Alzheimer’s disease.•Has given insight into tau abnormalities, tau toxicity & dysfunction, toxic tau species.•Not possible to perfectly model all aspects of human degenerative diseases.•Utility of fly for modelling human diseases increases with development of new tools.•Fly is an evolving experimental platform for studying neurodegenerative diseases.