BPoD has moved!

BPoD has recently changed our domain name - we can now be found at bpod.org.uk

Please update your bookmarks!

Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Robot deployed to help analyse effects of mutated gene enhancer regions on development

14 November 2020

Flying Robot

Genetic engineering is part art, part science. Making specific changes or mutations to DNA requires a careful design, steady hands in the lab and resilience to try and try again should painstaking work go awry. Even then, analysing the effects of many different mutations is a huge task. To meet the challenge, researchers taught a robot – “The Hybridiser” – to take over some of the lab work. In this fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), the robot helps to analyse mutated enhancers – regions of DNA (highlighted in pink) that change the behaviour of a gene called shavenbaby (highlighted in green) important in the development of this fly embryo. Using robots to assist studies of different mutations will help researchers to spot important patterns in the fly’s genetics, and also our own. We share many genes with drosophila and a human form of shavenbaby is involved in our development too.

Written by John Ankers

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

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.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.