ABOVE: Researchers used a fluorescing protein to explore cell-specific gene expression patterns in zebrafish containing a sponge-derived enhancer.
DAVID ZHENG | VICTOR CHANG CARDIAC RESEARCH INSTITUTE
The functionality of genetic regulatory elements known as enhancers is widely conserved among species of animals spread across the evolutionary tree. When researchers inserted an enhancer sequence from a sponge into zebrafish and mice, both vertebrates were able to interpret the genetic information and drive cell-specific expression of a developmental gene, even within cell types that a sponge doesn’t have.
The results of the new study, published November 5 in Science, show that, at least in some cases, enhancer function persists across species that last shared a common ancestor as far back as 700 million years ago.
Once bound by proteins, enhancers control where, when, and how genes are regulated, and are largely responsible for cell differentiation during development. “The reason why a muscle cell ...
