The gene found by Cliff Tabin, Andy MacMahon, and Phil Ingham that controls the body segments of flies so that the fly body forms properly with a head in front, body in the middle, and wings on the back. The version of this gene that controls the proper formation of limbs in chickens is called “sonic hedgehog” (named after the video game character Sonic the Hedgehog). All animals with limbs and bodies have a version of the hedgehog gene that keeps the body forming in proper alignment and proportions.
Hedgehog gene and sonic hedgehog gene Quotes in Your Inner Fish
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Chapter 3
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Experiment after experiment on creatures as different as mice, sharks, and flies shows us that the lessons of Sonic hedgehog are very general. All appendages, whether they are fins or limbs, are built by similar kinds of genes. What does this mean for … the transition of fish fins into limbs? It means that this great evolutionary transformation did not involve the origin of new DNA: much of the shift likely involved using ancient genes, such as those involved in shark fin development, in new ways to make limbs with fingers and toes.
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Hedgehog gene and sonic hedgehog gene Term Timeline in Your Inner Fish
The timeline below shows where the term Hedgehog gene and sonic hedgehog gene appears in Your Inner Fish. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: Handy Genes
Tabin, MacMahon, and Ingham named the gene that controls differentiating body segments in flies the hedgehog gene, because flies that have a faulty hedgehog gene look like little bristly hedgehogs. In...
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...are remarkably similar to chicken eggs, with some adaptations for life in water. Looking for sonic hedgehog activity in skate embryos would prove that this basic recipe for limb development goes...
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Dahn started by looking for the sonic hedgehog gene in shark embryos. Once he found that sonic hedgehog was indeed present, he...
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...further to see if the shark ZPA could be influenced with the protein that the sonic hedgehog gene produces in mice. Normally, the rods in a shark’s fin are all the...
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