The team, led by developmental biologist Moises Malla, focused on a specific receptor protein, Tgfbr1.
Researchers have accidentally created a mouse embryo with six legs and no reproductive organs, showing how changes in DNA can have a huge impact on development. Metro reported it.
In particular, a team from the Gulbenkian Institute of Science in Oeiras (Portugal) investigated how a particular protein works in the middle stages of embryonic growth.
Embryos begin as a group of identical cells. As they develop, the cells specialize and begin to form different parts of the body, usually starting with the head and working their way back to the tail – yes, even humans had tails in the early days, but it was missing for about eight weeks.
Scientists already know that in most four-legged mammals, the external genitalia (penis or clitoris) and hind limbs develop from the same early structures.
The team, led by developmental biologist Moises Malla, focused on a specific receptor protein, Tgfbr1.
“This protein, officially called transforming growth factor I receptor beta, is involved in gene expression – essentially helping to decide which ones to activate where, deciding what each cell should be, like a cell of blood, muscle tissue or nerve cells”, the scientists say.
In this study, the researchers inactivated Tgfbr1 in mouse embryos at mid-development to see how it affected spinal cord development.
They discovered an embryo that had extra limbs instead of genitalia, and several organs growing outside the body.
We remind you that researchers from the University of Cambridge were able to grow an embryo without eggs and sperm.
Source: korrespondent
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