[Cocktail chatter by Alexandra Arnold]
My cocktail chatter is about how ancient “genetic parasites”
spurred evolution o pregnancy in mammals. A group of scientists went with Dr.
Vincent Lynch, assistant professor of human genetics at the University of
Chicago, to look at the origins of pregnancy in mammals. By characterizing the pregnant
uterine transcriptomes, they found that thousands of genes had evolved
endometrial expression during the origins of mammalian pregnancy. They found
that as development went from a hard eggshell to the soft tissue surrounded by
placenta now, that there was a stronger connection between the mother and the
developing egg, which had evolved into a stronger and more successful pregnancy,
especially with the increase of maternal-fetal communication. They also found
many cells to regulate decidualization as well as immune suppression genes to
stop the mother’s body from attacking the fetus. I found this article and the
additional information to be incredibly interesting. It was really interesting
learning about different fetal developments in animals and it was great seeing
how it evolved over time from all those years ago. It is amazing seeing what
genes can do and how much of an impact they really have.
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