Organizer of body axes: 600 million years old molecular principles
Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - 12:21
in Biology & Nature
Cells need to 'know' where they are in relation to all other cells in order to give rise into the correct cell types and tissues. The so-called 'organizer' is responsible for the formation of these body axes. Developmental biologists have shown that the molecular principles of the organizer are much more ancient than previously thought. The same signals were used already in the common ancestor of sea anemones and vertebrates 600 million years ago.