A surprising abundance of human disease genes in a simple "basal" animal, the starlet sea anemone (Nematostella vectensis).
Invertebrate animals have provided important insights into the mechanisms of, and treatment for, numerous human diseases. A surprisingly high proportion of genes underlying human disease are present in the genome of a simple, evolutionarily basal invertebrate animal, Nematostella vectensis, including some genes that are absent in established invertebrate model organisms. This, together with the laboratory tractability and regenerative capability of N. vectensis, recommends the species as an important new experimental model for the study of genes underlying human disease.
Sullivan
James C
JC
Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Finnerty
John R
JR
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012615:Sea Anemones / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment