Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Generation of a Human iPSC-Based Blood-Brain Barrier Chip
Published on: March 2, 2020
Recent evolution of the human skin barrier
Erin A Brettmann1,2,3, Cristina de Guzman Strong1,2,3
1Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Abstract:
The skin is the first line of defense against the environment, with the epidermis as the outermost tissue providing much of the barrier function. Given its direct exposure to and encounters with the environment, the epidermis must evolve to provide an optimal barrier for the survival of an organism. Recent advances in genomics have identified a number of genes for the human skin barrier that have undergone evolutionary changes since humans diverged from chimpanzees. Here, we highlight a selection of key and innovative genetic findings for skin barrier evolution in our divergence from our primate ancestors and among modern human populations.
Related Concept Videos
The Evidence for Evolution
Convergent Evolution
Eukaryotic Evolution
Contrary to the endosymbiont theory, the eukaryote-first hypothesis proposes that the simpler prokaryotic and...
Synteny and Evolution
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Physiological Barriers
The blood endothelial barrier is the most porous of these. It allows all small ionized, un-ionized, and lipophilic molecules to pass through the endothelial lining into the interstitial space...

