In 2004 researcher Jonathon Tilly presented evidence that
indicated an ability in mice to regenerate egg cells. This finding flew in the face of the century old
thought that mammalian females are born with a certain number of eggs and that no
new eggs are produced. In next month’s
edition of the journal Nature Medicine
Tilly will report experiments that show he and his team have found the same
ability in human women.
That this similarity between mice and humans was found is
not really that surprising. Mice have
similar genes and gene sequences as humans. The evolutionary explanation for
this commonality is that humans and mice genes come from the same source DNA. It would be expected then that similarities would
be found both in sequence and function and that any differences that do exist between
humans and mice are due to accumulated mutations. This type of commonality can be seen to varying
degrees in all organisms. The fewer the differences in sequences the closer
organisms are related.
MPR had a story about the Tilly research this morning that
you can read or listen to here. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/npr.php?id=147344258
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