Comment on Bitch shape attack
gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month agoSo, in other words, viruses did parts of the work of evolution by inventing the CSF2 and syncitin genes?
And that regulates the immune system to not respond to foreign tissue?
kadup@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Basically, yes. Viruses came up with the syncitins to fuse with host cells, then when they infected us and integrated their genome we had the code for making these proteins… and turns out “invading tissue” was a really useful tool for the embryo.
gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
i am wondering (in case you know), what activates these genes?
i.e., i’d like to understand how gene regulation works in general. what causes genes to become active all of a sudden?
i.e., why does the genes allow embryos to live inside the mother, but not allow other intruders to live inside the human?
kadup@lemmy.world 1 month ago
That’s a fantastic question… which is exactly what I’m pursuing in my master’s degree right now :). The goal will be to have a full metabolic map showing all the involved genes and how they interact, when they’re triggered (and by which signaling pathways) and how it all comes together for placental development.