Emergence of land animals – a small genetic variation may leave the spinal cord at sea Science and Technology



aBoat 0 370 years ago, in the latter part of the Devonian period, all the lands east of the ocean were emptied and began to take advantage of the wealth that could not be found off the coast. This was a big step, both literal and metaphorical, and evolutionary biologists have long assumed that anatomical shifts from functional fin to proto-leg have taken place, requiring the coincidence of several genetic mutations to occur. This, however, may not be the case. A paper has just been published CellIt has been suggested by Brent Hawkins, Katherine Hank, and Matthew Harris of Harvard University that the process was driven by the smallest type of genetic mutation possible.

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It is better to understand the origins of tetrapods, as geological zoologists are collectively identified, all three were watching what happened to zebrafish (a common subject of developmental biology experiments because they are small, transparent and long-bred fish) Tweak the genes. Finding more than 10,000 mutant specimens, they found that a group of mutants arranged unusual patterns of bones in their pectoral fins. Instead of being four, they were six.

Surprisingly, the extra pair was slightly away from the body, and the bones contained in it aligned parallel to each other in the way that radius and alna protrude from the tetrapod (see figure). Moreover, and even more interestingly, the two new bones are nicely integrated with the muscles of the fin and are well connected to the rest of the local skeleton. The most interesting thing, however, was that this significant anatomical shift was made by replacing one of its amino-acid building blocks with a single Prostel molecule, called a vessel.

Ghee is a signaling protein. But it is not one, as far as the team can tell by searching through the literature on fetal development, previously involved in the process of organ formation in vertebrates by anyone. However, he then conducted an experiment on mice, which involved cocking out the gene encoding the well, resulting in deformed coherent bones in all four limbs of the rat, not just the front. Clearly, then, this protein would actually play a role in tetrapod organ formation.

The most recent common ancestor of zebrafish and mice is also a Devonian prey. Those embryonic development patterns can lead to those two species and, in particular, change the way modern fish develops wings. So the fact that the mutations the team has discovered nowadays cannot even rule out the possibility that they only affect the pectoral fin, at that time, the arrival of the mouse fish projector in the pelvic fin, now known as the bone fibula and tibia. So it seems quite possible that Dars Hawkins, Hanke and Harris have found the source of the decisive change that left the sea behind by breaking the shores of the mouse ancestors and humans.

This article was published in the science and technology section for printing under the heading “Getting a Step”.