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CASE STUDY. “Kernels are the combination of evolutionarily conserved elements that specify the body plan and perform the executive functions of the network; for example, the combination of transcription factors (TFs) conserved from Drosophila to Homo sapiens that direct heart development.” https://lnkd.in/dfCi2dc View in LinkedIn

HUNT FOR THE MASTERPLAN. “Emphasis has since been placed on elucidating a general GRN framework that could describe development, and this has given rise to additional concepts: for instance, (1) kernels, (2) subcircuits, (3) switches, and (4) gene batteries.” (GRN = gene regulatory networks). https://lnkd.in/dfCi2dc View in LinkedIn

ELECTRICAL ANALOGY. “The GRN concept appreciated that different elements are spread across the genome, requiring an integrated circuitry with a hierarchical structure, and that a limited number of integrators were required to control many subservient genes.” (GRN = gene regulatory networks). https://lnkd.in/dfCi2dc View in LinkedIn

KEY CONCEPT. “Britten and Davidson furthered this idea by introducing the concept of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) as hierarchical operating systems regulating mammalian development. Their early conceptualization of a metazoan GRN was visionary, anticipating many elements of current network theory and evolution, including redundancy, feedback regulation, the relationship between genome size and regulatory complexity, and the role of nuclear RNA in network regulation.” (GRN = gene regulatory networks). https://lnkd.in/dfCi2dc View in LinkedIn

ROBUSTNESS LANDSCAPE. “Waddington envisaged this “epigenetic landscape” as being shaped by genes (pegs in the ground) which were connected to each other and the landscape by guide ropes that mold the valleys that constrain lineage fate.” https://lnkd.in/dfCi2dc View in LinkedIn

NETWORK ROBUSTNESS. “A key feature of networks is robustness, or resilience to genetic or environmental attack, or random fluctuations in gene expression. Robustness underlying development was captured by Conrad Hal Waddington’s visual metaphor of a ball rolling down a valley system in a terrestrial landscape.” https://lnkd.in/dfCi2dc View in LinkedIn

NIGHT LIGHT IMPACT. “Shift workers, who are exposed to high levels of light at night in the workplace, have served as society's canaries in the coal mine for maladaptive consequences of nighttime light exposure. Epidemiological evidence from shift workers suggests that prolonged exposure to light at night increases the risk of developing cancer, sleep disturbances, mood disorders, metabolic dysfunction, and cognitive impairments.” https://lnkd.in/dH6Ha79 View in LinkedIn

HEART OF THE BODY PLAN. “Deciphering the mechanisms that drive development is a long-standing challenge. Emphasis has been placed on revealing the “decision makers” that give rise to cellular identity and to mapping the signaling pathways that enable the reproducible construction of the body plan through successive generations.” https://lnkd.in/dfCi2dc View in LinkedIn

THE HEAVY TOUCH OF LIGHT. “Given the well-established role of light in modulating the circadian system, and the relationship between circadian and metabolic functions, it is not surprising that exposure to light at unnatural times affects metabolism. Exposure to continuous-light, non–24-hour light schedules, and dim light at night are all associated with metabolic changes in rodents.” https://lnkd.in/dH6Ha79 View in LinkedIn

NIGHT OWL CONSEQUENCES. “Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is complex metabolic disease that arises as a consequence of interactions between genetic predisposition and environmental triggers. One recently described environmental trigger associated with development of T2DM is disturbance of circadian rhythms due to shift work, sleep loss, or nocturnal lifestyle. However, the underlying mechanisms behind this association are largely unknown.” https://lnkd.in/diSfaUf View in LinkedIn