Identification of genes involved in neural crest development

了解胚胎发育期间控制我们身体形成方式的基因对于了解我们的身体系统在健康和疾病中的功能是必要的。然而，对脊椎动物（包括人类）发育遗传学的研究一直在非常间接地进行，主要是通过寻找与其他生物系统中发现的基因相似的基因，最明显的是果蝇。这项研究的意义在于，它将直接从选定的脊椎动物身体系统中识别发育基因。作为一个身体系统，我们将选择一个最基本的构建模块的非常早期的神经系统。这个构造块是一个称为神经嵴的胚胎器官，后来形成神经系统的重要部分，但除此之外，它还形成头部和面部的主要部分，颈部的腺体，从心脏引出的大动脉，以及皮肤中的色素细胞（黑色素细胞）。了解这个器官的发育特别重要，因为来自神经嵴的组织是出生缺陷和儿童癌症的风险最大的组织。神经嵴发育的知识也告诉我们我们自己的进化，因为神经嵴是唯一的主要系统，只在脊椎动物包括人类。

Knowledge of the genes that during embryonic development control the way our bodies form is necessary to understanding how our body systems function in health and disease. However, research on the developmental genetics of vertebrates, including humans, has proceeded very indirectly, mostly by looking for genes similar to those found in other biological systems, most notably the fruit fly. The significance of this research is that it will identify developmental genes directly from the chosen vertebrate body system as it develops. As a body system we will choose one of the most basic building blocks of the very early nervous system. This building block is an embryonic organ called the Neural Crest that later goes on to form important parts of the nervous system, but in addition it also forms major parts of the head and face, glands in the neck, the large arteries leading out from the heart, and pigment cells (melanocytes) in the skin. It is particularly important to gain insight into development of this organ because the tissues that derive from the neural crest are the most at risk for birth defects and for childhood cancers. Knowledge of neural crest development also tells us about our own evolution, because the neural crest is the only major system found only in vertebrates including humans.