Original story from the Center for Genomic Regulation (Barcelona, Spain). By mapping regulatory DNA cell by cell, researchers show how an ancient animal builds diverse cell types, and why gene control, not genes alone, drives evolution. One of the biggest quests in biology is understanding how every cell in an animal’s body carries an identical genome yet still gives rise to a kaleidoscope of different cell types and tissues. A neuron doesn’t look nor behave like a muscle cell but has the same DNA. Researchers think it comes down to how cells allow different parts of the genome to be read. Controlling these permissions are regulatory elements, regions of the genome which switch genes on or off. A detailed overview of how they do this is largely restricted to a handful of classic model organisms like mice and fruit flies. For the first time, researchers at the Center for Genomic Regulation (Barcelona, Spain) have created a map which explains how the genome gives rise to different cell types in the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. Sea anemones, together with jellyfish and corals, belong to a group of animals called cnidarians. These are among the earliest animals in evolutionary history, first appearing on Earth around half a billion years ago. The study systematically dissects the ‘regulatory logic’ that defines cell identity in the sea anemone Nematostella. Rather than describing cell types through genes, the atlas describes the regulatory elements that build and maintain them instead. The study offers a glimpse of what…
