Overview of Developmental Genetics Flashcards
(19 cards)
What does one set of genes direct development from?
A single fertilized cell to a complex organism with billions of cells
What does every cell in an animal’s body have the same of?
Genome
Different cells have different what?
identities and functions
What is the order of a single cell to a complex organism?
- Zygote
- Blastula
- Gastrula
What are the 4 components of the Gastrula?
- Ectoderm (outer layer)
- Mesoderm (middle layer)
- Endoderm (internal layer)
- Germ Cells
One set of instructions allows us to make and operated all the cells in our bodies
How is mammalian development often studied?
In mice
Why is mammalian development often studied in mice?
They have the same organs as human, but their gestation period is ~20 days, so it is genetically tractable
By what day are embryonic cells already specialized
Day 4
Where are pluirpotent stem committed
in the inner cell mass to the fetus, not the placenta or the yolk sac
In the example shown on slide of Genetic Control of Developmen what is Oct4
A transcription factor
What is a transcription factor?
a protein that regulates other genes
Oct4 controls genes that are associated with…
Pluripotency
Define Pluripotent
Stem cells in the inner cell mass of the embryo, they can become any cell type in the body
How is cell identity and cell function determined?
by which genes are expressed
Gene expression is dynamically regulated at what level
Epigenetic
Defining Epigenetics
A heritable phenotypic change that does not result from mutations usually results from changes in the packaging of a gene
What controls fate & identitiy
Transcription factors (Example MyoD)
What is a transgene?
an artificial gene, so for example MyoD is initially expressed from a transgene so therefore after multiple cell divisions the MyoD transgene is gone, but the cells have stably converted to myoblasts and myotubes
What is PTMs
A protein coding gene