I'm a little surprised at the convergence of interest in this news report of a conserved mechanism of organizing the nervous system—I've gotten a half-dozen requests to explain what it all means. Is there a rising consciousness about evo-devo issues? What's caused the sudden focus on this one paper?
It doesn't really matter, I suppose. It's an interesting observation about how both arthropods and vertebrates seem to partition regions along the dorso-ventral axis of the nervous system using exactly the same set of molecules, a remarkable degree of similarity that supports the idea of a common origin. Gradients of a molecule called Bmp may be the primitive mechanism for establishing dorso-ventral polarity in animals.
Continue reading "Patterning the nervous system with Bmp" (on Pharyngula)
9 Comments
Steviepinhead · 13 September 2006
Superb, PZ, thanks!
Michael Suttkus, II · 12 October 2006
Is there a moderator here who can kill the spam? Some of the pages in the archives are loaded with the stuff. Since some spammers get paid by establishing successful persistent links, I'd really like to see these enteries trashed.
Henry J · 12 October 2006
Well, that answered Michael's question, I guess...
Steviepinhead · 12 October 2006
Very good comment, Henry J. Thank you!
[:=>
Steviepinhead · 12 October 2006
Uh oh, Henry and Michael.
Now we've been demoted from a "very good site" to merely a "good" site. And that's on a post of PZ's (helpless to defend himself,since he's in London at the moment...) that I originally called "superb."
How the mighty have fallen! There's just no pleasing some people.
Steviepinhead · 13 October 2006
Ah, "cool." That beats "good" any day.
PT is clawing its way back up to the top of the spam-heap.
Henry J · 13 October 2006
Except that the "that" to which I referred doesn't seem to be there anymore... :lol:
Henry J · 13 October 2006
Oh goody, now the site rating is back to "very good"!
Steviepinhead · 13 October 2006
Yep, Henry, I think it's definitely paying off, this spam patrol of ours!
If only the quality of the cold cuts were a little higher...