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Snaking Along
18 September 2016

Snaking Along

Mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds look extremely diverse, yet all possess a common body plan, a product of their shared evolutionary history. This basic shape, a skeleton composed of a head, neck, trunk and tail, is slightly modified in each lineage to produce the myriad of shapes found in nature; in humans, key changes involved losing the tail and re-aligning the limbs for bipedal posture. Of all vertebrates, snakes are especially peculiar, lacking limbs and displaying an extraordinarily extended trunk, the mid-section of the body. Researchers have only recently discovered how this long, sinuous shape arises: rearrangements in the snake genome mean that a key gene in skeletal development, Oct4, remains active for longer in developing snake embryos, like the one pictured, stimulating growth of the spine. Harnessing the effects of Oct4 in humans could open up new possibilities for regenerative therapies, encouraging the spinal cord to re-grow after injury.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

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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.

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