This article reports a predicted gene model generated by undergraduate work using a structured gene model annotation protocol defined by the Genomics Education Partnership (GEP; thegep.org ) for Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE). The following information in this box may be repeated in other articles submitted by participants using the same GEP CURE protocol for annotating Drosophila species orthologs of Drosophila melanogaster genes in the insulin signaling pathway. "In this GEP CURE protocol students use web-based tools to manually annotate genes in non-model Drosophila species based on orthology to genes in the well-annotated model organism fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster . The GEP uses web-based tools to allow undergraduates to participate in course-based research by generating manual annotations of genes in non-model species (Rele et al., 2023) . Computational-based gene predictions in any organism are often improved by careful manual annotation and curation, allowing for more accurate analyses of gene and genome evolution (Mudge and Harrow 2016; Tello-Ruiz et al., 2019). These models of orthologous genes across species, such as the one presented here, then provide a reliable basis for further evolutionary genomic analyses when made available to the scientific community.” (Myers et al., 2024) . “The particular gene ortholog described here was characterized as part of a developing dataset to study the evolution of the Insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway (IIS) across the genus Drosophila . The Insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway (IIS) is a highly conserved signaling pathway in animals and is central to mediating organismal responses to nutrients (Hietakangas and Cohen 2009; Grewal 2009) .” (Myers et al., 2024) . “Myc acts downstream of the insulin signaling pathway, with Myc protein accumulating in response to insulin through transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms (Parisi et al., 2011) , resulting in the activation of genes involved in anabolic processes that promote cell growth (Terakawa et al., 2022) . Myc encodes a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor in Drosophila melanogaster that is homologous to vertebrate Myc proto-oncogenes (Gallant et al., 1996) . In Drosophila melanogaster , Myc transcriptionally regulates a wide range of genes, including those that influence cell growth and metabolism (Teleman et al., 2008; Gallant 2013) .” (Myers et al., 2024) . “ D. eugracilis (NCBI:txid29029) is part of the melanogaste r species group within the subgenus Sophophora of the genus Drosophila (Pélandakis et al., 1993) . It was first described as Tanygastrella gracilis by Duda (1924) and revised to Drosophila eugracilis by Bock and Wheeler (1972). D. eugracilis is found in humid tropical and subtropical forests across southeast Asia (https://www.taxodros.uzh.ch, accessed 1 Feb 2023).” (Morgan et al., 2022) .