there are some 14,000 genes that go on
to build a fly but the process starts
with the tool kit these toolkit genes
tell other genes where to put the head
the tail all the limbs and aunt any a
problem in one of these genes during
development can transform a creature
into a catastrophe and it gets even
stranger toolkit genes don’t just exist
in flies there in a huge variety of
animals including humans that’s why
there is such similarity in the embryos
of a fly a mouse an elephant and a human
despite how different they look as
adults a similar kind of recipe
underlies the development of bodies as
different as those of sea anemones and
humans I mean that’s really remarkable
that a version of the same recipe can
build bodies that are so utterly
different the finished product may vary
finn’s feathers or fingers but like
distinctive cars underneath the paint
job the genetic chassis is the same it’s
a new way to look at nature’s body
building as if there’s a tool shop
inside each of us using a similar set of
genes to make parts and appendages in
very different organisms creatures and
their body parts aren’t invented from
scratch they evolved when their genetic
networks are modified by ancient toolkit
genes evolution of form is a matter of
teaching very old jeans new tricks if
you take a look at the difference
between a mouse and a cat the difference
is not new types of cells but change an
organization somewhere along the line
those instructions were modified not in
a way that scrambled them but in a way
that gave subtle changes to lead to the
differences between organisms of course
not every organism can stack up against
the environment the genetic toolkit
builds bodies that are at best hopeful
possibilities fossil beds are littered
with one hit wonders evolutionary
experiments that proved to be
maladaptive dead ends evolution has
taken millions of twists and turns how
did toolkit genes that made an ancient
worm get reconfigured to eventually make
the parts that make us our hands our
hearts our upright naked bodies and
ultimately the brilliant brain in our
heads
to build a fly but the process starts
with the tool kit these toolkit genes
tell other genes where to put the head
the tail all the limbs and aunt any a
problem in one of these genes during
development can transform a creature
into a catastrophe and it gets even
stranger toolkit genes don’t just exist
in flies there in a huge variety of
animals including humans that’s why
there is such similarity in the embryos
of a fly a mouse an elephant and a human
despite how different they look as
adults a similar kind of recipe
underlies the development of bodies as
different as those of sea anemones and
humans I mean that’s really remarkable
that a version of the same recipe can
build bodies that are so utterly
different the finished product may vary
finn’s feathers or fingers but like
distinctive cars underneath the paint
job the genetic chassis is the same it’s
a new way to look at nature’s body
building as if there’s a tool shop
inside each of us using a similar set of
genes to make parts and appendages in
very different organisms creatures and
their body parts aren’t invented from
scratch they evolved when their genetic
networks are modified by ancient toolkit
genes evolution of form is a matter of
teaching very old jeans new tricks if
you take a look at the difference
between a mouse and a cat the difference
is not new types of cells but change an
organization somewhere along the line
those instructions were modified not in
a way that scrambled them but in a way
that gave subtle changes to lead to the
differences between organisms of course
not every organism can stack up against
the environment the genetic toolkit
builds bodies that are at best hopeful
possibilities fossil beds are littered
with one hit wonders evolutionary
experiments that proved to be
maladaptive dead ends evolution has
taken millions of twists and turns how
did toolkit genes that made an ancient
worm get reconfigured to eventually make
the parts that make us our hands our
hearts our upright naked bodies and
ultimately the brilliant brain in our
heads
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