Zebrafish genes linked to human respiratory diseases
Tuesday, September 16, 2014 - 05:08
in Biology & Nature
Hundreds of novel genes in the zebrafish have been identified that could be functionally identical to the human genes required for forming motile cilia, hair-like structures on the surface of airway cells. These are required for removing dust and pathogens from the human airway. The study showed that the loss of these genes is linked to development of defective motile cilia, which could be the cause of some respiratory diseases.