A mouse made with a gene older than animal life

    The current theory of evolution tells us that all life had to evolve from an ancestor and that different species may share a common ancestor. Even the split between unicellular organisms and multicellular organisms had to have had a common ancestor at some point in time. 

    Dr. Alex de Mendoza of Queen Mary University of London and a team of researchers from the University of Hong Kong ventured out to see if a gene found in choanoflagellates could be used to make stem cells to produce a living mouse. Choanoflagellates were chosen since they are the closest single-celled organism related to animals as well as having a version of the Sox and POU genes, genes responsible for the development of different cell types found within animals. The team put the choanoflagellate Sox and POU genes into mouse cells to replace the native Sox and POU genes, producing stem cells. The stem cells made were essentially codes that which were overwritten by the new Sox and POU genes. These stem cells were then injected into a mouse embryo resulting in a living, breathing mouse that had physical traits belonging to the donor embryo and the new stem cells. What this confirmed was that the Sox and POU genes, genes older than animal life, were essential parts of the puzzle for animal life to even exist.

    The implications of this discovery are incredible. The fact that a single-celled organism has genes vital for multicellular life to exists is interesting as it implies these genes might have not originally served the role we as humans use them for. It's possible they were meant to serve a different purpose entirely and some change or mutation resulted in the evolution of the multicellular organism since the Sox and POU genes in choanoflagellates are not exactly the same as the animal version. I find it really interesting how one discovery can make us question what we know about genetics and how much we actually understand.