Scientists recreate mouse from gene older than animal life
In an experiment that sounds like science fiction, Dr Alex de Mendoza of Queen Mary University of London collaborated with researchers from The University of Hong Kong to use a gene found in choanoflagellates, a single-celled organism related to animals, to create stem cells which they then used to give rise to a living, breathing mouse. Choanoflagellates are the closest living relatives of animals, and their genomes contain versions of the genes Sox and POU, known for driving pluripotency -- the cellular potential to develop into any cell type -- within mammalian stem cells. This unexpected discovery challenges a longstanding belief that these genes evolved exclusively within animals. "By successfully creating a mouse using molecular tools derived from our single-celled relatives, we're witnessing an extraordinary continuity of function across nearly a billion years of evolution," said Dr de Mendoza. "The study implies that key genes involved in stem cell formatio