Drosophila is an effective model for understanding the genetic factors and pathways that direct the formation of the heart. Using fluorescent-activated cell sorting (FACS) of embryonic heart cells followed by RNA sequencing, we were able to identify novel genes expressed during embryonic heart development. In this project, we have chosen to characterize CG8147, CG9336, and CG7033. CG8147 has predicted alkaline phosphatase activity while CG7033 is a predicted chaperone protein with ATP binding capability. CG9336 currently has no known conserved functional domains. To understand the how these genes might affect heart development, we are utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 technology to generate mutant fly stocks in order to further investigate their role in development. .