Dr. Ferdinand Marlétaz Helps Unearth Origins of Vertebrate Gene Regulation

A new study, published in Nature on November 21, 2018, gives a glimpse into the origins of vertebrate gene regulation. The researchers studied the lancelet, or amphioxus, an organism in the chordate phylum that lacks the unique attributes of a vertebrate, such as a head, eyes and limbs, but shares a similar body plan. Learning how the lancelet controls its gene activity clarified which control mechanisms evolved with vertebrates, and which were around already.

Ferdinand Marlétaz is co-first author of the new study and a postdoctoral scholar in the OIST Molecular Genetics Unit, led by Prof. Daniel Rokhsar. Marlétaz began the research as a postdoc in Prof. Peter Holland's lab at the University of Oxford, and continued collaborating on the paper when he moved to OIST. The multidisciplinary study spanned several labs in Europe and was coordinated by J. L.Gomez-Skameta, N. Maeso, M. Irimia and H. Escriva. Read the press release from the Center for Genomic Regulation here.

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