Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 28, 2026

A Bioinformatics Pipeline for Investigating Molecular Evolution and Gene Expression using RNA-seq
Published on: May 28, 2021
The evolution of vision
1Growth and Development, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Abstract:
In this review, the evolution of vision is retraced from its putative origins in cyanobacteria to humans. Circadian oscillatory clocks, phototropism, and phototaxis require the capability to detect light. Photosensory proteins allow us to reconstruct molecular phylogenetic trees. The evolution of animal eyes leading from an ancestral prototype to highly complex image forming eyes can be deciphered on the basis of evolutionary developmental genetic experiments and comparative genomics. As all bilaterian animals share the same master control gene, Pax6, and the same retinal and pigment cell determination genes, we conclude that the different eye-types originated monophyletically and subsequently diversified by divergent, parallel, or convergent evolution.
Related Concept Videos
Vision
Gene Duplication and Divergence
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are...
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Visual System
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
Color Vision
Anatomy of the Eyeball

