News From the Field
Sea Lamprey Jettison One-fifth of Their Genome
July 20, 2009
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Sea lampreys, which arose from the jawless fish that first appeared a half-billion years ago, dramatically remodel their genomes during embronic development. This is believed to be the first recorded observation of a vertebrate reorganizing its genome during normal development. Evolutionary biologists are interested in how and why the lamprey reorganizes its genome, because the animal is a living fossil with millions of years of evolutionary history.Full StorySource
University of Washington
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