Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Proteins that Create the Body's Blueprint


Recently, researches have uncovered what they call "gene architects" that create the blueprints for developing embryos. According to the article in Science Daily, the two proteins MOZ and BMI1 are responsible for normal embryonic development. The researchers described developing embryos as a "cluster of cells" needing to be divided and these two proteins organize these clusters segment by segment. The MOZ protein activates the developing genes while the BMI1 protein is responsible for making sure these proteins do not activate too early or too late. The research found that if the genes activated too early, the developing embryo was negatively impacte, greatly.

I found this article to be very interesting as it uncovers more about embryonic development. It is well known that Hox genes are a major part of embryonic development -- however, this research helps to uncover more about what effects Hox gene expression. A decreased amount of MOZ or BMI1 proteins could significantly alter the Hox gene expression and have severe implications on the developing embryo.

Additional Link

No comments:

Post a Comment