#Stripes cast full#
Kaelin looked at the tissue that showed the thick and thin tissue pattern that was the precursor of stripes, he said, “the one molecule that stood out from the rest was this Dkk4.” The full name of the protein and the gene is Dickkopf 4: The name is German for “thick head,” a characteristic the gene produced in frogs.Until the 1970s, the most common type of cast was made with plaster of paris. The team then looked for genes that might be active at that period in early embryonic growth. The regions, she said, “mimic what’s going on in the adult cat pigmentation patterns.” The same patterns that will appear in an adult cat’s coat as stripes or blotches appear first in the embryo before there is any hair or even hair follicles. She found a pattern of what she described as thick and thin areas of tissue in the top layer of the embryonic skin, never before reported. McGowan looked for patterns in the tissue at the different stages of growth in the embryos. For this study, the researchers collected the embryonic tissue and brought it to the lab.įrom more than 200 prenatal litters, Dr. The embryos, at too early a growth stage to be viable, are usually discarded.
Many female cats that are spayed in these programs are pregnant. The research depended on a collaboration with programs that trap feral cats, spay or castrate them and release them in order to reduce overpopulation and improve the health of feral cats. Barsh said the team’s research had confirmed this hypothesis.įurther, he said, the study shows for the first time that the gene Dkk4 and the protein it produces are central to the process.
Researchers who study the development of coat patterns have thought that this process could produce stripes in cat coats Dr. The paper describes what is called a reaction diffusion process in which two chemicals, one that stimulates gene activity and one that inhibits it, can result in regular, alternating patterns. “It advances our understanding of one of the most fundamental questions in developmental biology: How do patterns form?” Dr. Barsh in the past but was not part of this research. Hoekstra, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University, who has collaborated with Dr. “It’s a very beautiful study,” said Hopi E.
McGowan, all affiliated with the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Alabama and the Stanford University School of Medicine. Bonding Moments: Despite their apparent aloofness and independent disposition, a study found that cats can build strong ties with humans, vindicating cat lovers around the world.
#Stripes cast tv#
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