Gene identified as important for fish heart development could provide clues to human heart defects
06 December 2018
Fishing for Clues
The four chambers of our hearts – two atria above two ventricles – started working long before birth, yet how they first form is still a little mysterious. Fortunately, one of our distant ancestors – the zebrafish – may have clues. Here, a high-powered microscope pictures a developing zebrafish heart from different angles. Cells highlighted in blue have a gene called meis2b switched on – in adult fish this one-sided, asymmetric, pattern helps to distinguish the left and right sides of the fish’s single atrium. The human form of meis2b may help to separate our left and right atria chambers during development – a genetic instruction passed down from the fish’s simpler heart. Faults in such genes can lead to congenital heart defects, and zebrafish may soon be called upon again to investigate the causes, and potential treatments, for these human conditions.
Written by
- Image by Almary Guerra
- Department of Developmental Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany
- Image copyright held by the original authors
- Research published in eLife, May 2018
Search The Archive
Submit An Image
Like us on Facebook
Follow on Twitter
Follow on Tumblr
Follow on Instagram
What is BPoD?
BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.
BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.