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The same genes code for legs as for tentacles

Denyse O'Leary
June 21, 2019
Genetics, stasis
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Nature Magazine reports that and moves on:

Cuttlefish and their kin form tentacles by deploying the same genes that direct the growth of arms in humans and legs in spiders…

The results suggest that genetic programs driving appendage development have been conserved for more than 500 million years, even though the appendages themselves have not. “The master genes that sculpt tentacles and legs alike” at Nature

They’ll be back to us when they come up with a no-design story.

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See also: Stasis: Life goes on but evolution does not happen

Comments
limbed animals have arisen from limbless ancestors on many separate occasions. It is not clear, however, whether the same genetic instructions shape the developing limbs of all species. the genetic mechanisms that control how cuttlefish limbs develop are the same as those used by the limbs of vertebrates and insects. The extent of the genetic similarities between cuttlefish, mammals and insects suggests that this mechanism is likely to provide instructions about where cells position themselves in the developing limb. The next step is to examine how these common systems are interpreted differently to give arms, legs, wings and other limb forms. Evolution of limb development in cephalopod mollusks Oscar A Tarazona, Davys H Lopez, Leslie A Slota, Martin J Cohn https://elifesciences.org/articles/43828 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43828.001OLV
June 22, 2019
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little is known about the developmental mechanisms underlying cephalopod limb evolution. all three axes of cuttlefish limbs are patterned by the same signaling networks that act in vertebrates and arthropods, although they evolved limbs independently. cephalopod limbs evolved by parallel activation of a genetic program for appendage development that was present in the bilaterian common ancestor. Evolution of limb development in cephalopod mollusks Oscar A Tarazona, Davys H Lopez, Leslie A Slota, Martin J Cohn https://elifesciences.org/articles/43828 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43828.001 By “parallel activation of a genetic program” do they mean RV+NS? :)OLV
June 22, 2019
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“They’ll be back to us when they come up with a no-design story” Don’t hold your breath while waiting for that to happen. :)OLV
June 22, 2019
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