FoxJ1 Helps Cilia Beat A Path To Asymmetry
Monday, November 24, 2008 - 22:28
in Biology & Nature
Scientists have discovered how a genetic switch, known as FoxJ1, helps developing embryos tell their left from their right. While at first glance the right and left sides of our bodies are identical to each other, this symmetry is only skin-deep. Below the surface, some of our internal organs are shifted sideways -- heart and stomach to the left, liver and appendix to the right.