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| Abstract Title:
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| Evolutionary comparisons elucidate gene networks in the development of photoreceptors in the eye
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| Graduate Student Presenter:
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Tonia S. Schwartz
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| Name of the Author(s) and Affiliation(s):
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Tonia S. Schwartz, Interdepartmental Genetics; Jeanne Serb, Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology; M. Heather West Greenlee, Biomedical Sciences, Iowa State University
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Unraveling the genetic networks that control retinal development is essential to retinal biology and for the development of effective therapies to treat eye diseases. Many genes have been linked to critical roles in retinal cell fate determination. However, the complex relationships between genes that orchestrate retinal development and function are largely unknown. By capitalizing on the unique strengths of two traditional model systems, the fruit fly and the mouse, we make a powerful evolutionary comparison for determining gene networks that are difficult to explore in either of these two models independently. Here we turn to computational biology and use a recursive method in a comparative evolutionary-framework to data-mine public databases so that networks involved in photoreceptor specification in each model organism can be constructed and visualized. These two networks can then be compared with the current models for photoreceptor development to identify new candidate genes and hypothesize potential gene pathways. These will be the basis for future wet laboratory studies.
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