Snail shells offer clue in unravelling origins of body asymmetry
2,387 views · Published 25 February 2016 · 3:30 · Indexed 31 October 2026
Channel: University of Nottingham · 2016 · Education
An international team of researchers has discovered a gene in snails that determines whether their shells twist clockwise or anti-clockwise – and could offer clues to how the same gene affects body asymmetry in other animals including humans. The research, published in the journal Current Biology and led by a scientist at The University of Nottingham, UK, is an important step in understanding how our organs are placed asymmetrically within the body and why this process can sometimes go wrong when some or all of the major internal organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal placement in the body. In this video, Dr Angus Davison from the School of Life Sciences explains how they found the gene and why the discovery is important. Still images courtesy of Esther de Roij, Gary McDowell, Lauren Holden: and Jeremy Guay from Peregrine Creative.
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