Posts Tagged ‘tooth’
The Fairy Tooth Genes
Written by WTJ on February 10, 2009 – 9:23 pm -
The set of genes that involve in development of teeth has been identified by researchers at Georgia Tech, University of Tennessee, and University of Georgia. The finding was published on February issue of PLos Biology.
Extinct eel-like fish conodonts had no teeth in their mouth but in the throat (pharnyx), and one of the researchers, Darrin Hulsey first identified the correlation between the number of teeth in oral jaw and throat in fish. So the researchers used the rapidly evolving cichlids of Africa’s Lake Malawi to study their dentition development. Researchers had successfully identified the common gene regulatory circuit of the fish, which was the same as the jawless fish.
These fish had the same incisors and molars as modern vertebrate like human. The finding of the core genes did not only helped to identify the genes that control the teeth development in human, but might also help to map the development of hair or feather.
The authors in this finding were Gareth Fraser, Darrin Husley, Ryan Bloomquist, Kristine Uyesugi, Nancy Manley and Todd Streelman.
Tags: cichlid, Darrin Husley, dentition, fish, gareth fraser, Georgia Institute of Technology, incisor, Kristine Uyesugi, molar, Nancy Manley, PLos Biology, Ryan Bloomquist, teeth, Todd Streelman., tooth, University of Georgia, University of Tennessee
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