Several ultra-conserved elements are located near transcriptional regulators or developmental genes.
Scrutinizing these developmental genes in detail, biologists noticed that nested in each of them was an identical molecular sequence, which they designated the homeobox.
Many vertebrate homeobox-containing genes have been identified on the basis of their sequence similarity with Drosophila developmental genes.
Diverse organisms may have highly conserved developmental genes, but highly divergent regulatory mechanisms for these genes.
It is a developmental gene that guides connections, called axons, between the brain's two hemispheres, Dr. Kere said in an interview.
HOX genes are important developmental regulatory genes.
Some of these changes also cause changes in expression patterns of the developmental genes, resulting in different phenotypes.
Only a few developmental genes make the difference.
Everything from flies to humans share roughly the same set of developmental genes.
When all the developmental genes and their functions are known and entered in the databases, won't the mystery of life be dispelled and its awe destroyed?