Developing Fruit Fly Embryo Is Capable Of Genetic Corrections

Animals have an astonishing ability to develop reliably in spite of variable conditions during embryogenesis. New research, published in parallel this week in PLoS Biology and PLoS Computational Biology, addresses how living things can develop into precise, adult forms when there is so much variation present during their development stages. A team led by John Reinitz at Stony Brook University, and funded by the National Institutes of Health, shows how fruit fly embryos can “forget” initial incorrect versions of their body plan and develop into recognizable adult flies.

“Our results show that groups of genes can act on one another to reduce variation and highlights the importance of genetic networks in generating robust development,” said Dr. John Reinitz.

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