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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 3, 2026

Somatic Genome-Engineered Mouse Models Using In Vivo Microinjection and Electroporation

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Evolving Genital Structures: A Deep Look at Network Co-option.

Ella Preger-Ben Noon¹, Nicolás Frankel²

¹Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.

Developmental Cell

|September 17, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Evolutionary novelties arise from repurposing existing genomic elements. Glassford et al. demonstrate the co-option of a gene regulatory network in generating new body structures.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary developmental biology
Genomics
Molecular evolution

Background:

Novel body structures in evolution often arise from the repurposing of pre-existing genetic material.
Understanding the mechanisms behind the origin of evolutionary novelties is a key challenge in evolutionary biology.

Purpose of the Study:

To analyze the co-option of a specific gene regulatory network (GRN) in the origin of an evolutionary novelty.
To investigate how ancestral genomic components are redeployed to generate new body structures.

Main Methods:

Analysis of gene regulatory networks.
Comparative genomics.
Developmental biology techniques.

Main Results:

Identification of a specific GRN that was co-opted during the evolution of a novel body structure.
Demonstration of how changes in this GRN led to the emergence of the novelty.
Elucidation of the ancestral components involved in the redeployment.

Conclusions:

The study provides a detailed example of GRN co-option driving evolutionary novelty.
This mechanism highlights the importance of genetic toolkit reuse in shaping biodiversity.
Findings contribute to understanding the genomic basis of evolutionary innovation.