Researchers at New York University have created artificial Hox genes using new synthetic DNA technology and genomic engineering in stem cells.
Key highlights
- Researchers fabricated long strands of synthetic DNA by copying DNA from the Hox genes of rats.
- The researchers then delivered the DNA into a precise location within pluripotent stem cells from mice.
- Using the different species enabled the researchers to distinguish between the synthetic rat DNA and the natural cells of mice.
- With the artificial Hox DNA in mouse stem cells, the researchers could now explore how Hox genes help cells to learn and remember where they are.
What are Hox genes?
- Nearly all animals — from humans to birds to fish — have an anterior-posterior axis, or a line that runs from head to tail.
- During development, Hox genes act as architects, determining the plan for where cells go along the axis, as well as what body parts they make up.
- Hox genes ensure that organs and tissues develop in the right place, forming the thorax or placing wings in the correct anatomical positions.
- If Hox genes fail through misregulation or mutation, cells can get lost, playing a role in some cancers, birth defects, and miscarriages.
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