From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2006-07-25 18:32:40 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] neural crest development timing and domestication
To: ferret-list@cunyvm.cuny.edu, ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
A must-read article in the NY Times. Hopefully, people can get it if =
they go there fast enough. If not, there are always off-shoot =
reports elsewhere when the Times carries an interesting topic (which =
this is), and libraries often carry the articles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/health/25rats.html? =
_r=3D1&th&emc=3Dth&oref=3Dslogin
This links into the old "star gene" hypothesis.
Given the medical problems that are also associated with some neural =
crest genetic variants it would be interesting if domestication =
itself might help set the stage for certain vulnerabilities.
Title and author in case a library is needed:
Nice Rats, Nasty Rats: Maybe It=92s All in the Genes
by Nicholas Wade
QUOTING SEGMENTS
> Could a single gene that affects the timing of neural crest cell =
> development underlie the whole phenomenon of animal and human =
> domestication?
> One possibility is that a handful of genes =97 perhaps even just one =
> =97 underlie all the changes seen in domestication. A structure in =
> the embryo of all vertebrates, known as the neural crest, is the =
> source of cells that constitute much of the face, skull and pigment =
> cells, and many parts of the peripheral nervous system and =
> endocrine system. If the genes in the neural crest cells were =
> delayed just a little in coming into action, a whole range of =
> tissues could be affected, including the maturation of the adrenal =
> glands that underlies the first fear response of young animals, Dr. =
> Fitch has written.
> His strategy is to cross the tame rats with the ferocious rats and =
> then score the progeny for how much of each trait they inherit. He =
> hopes to identify 200 sites along the genome at which the tame and =
> ferocious rats differ. If one or more of the sites correlate with =
> tameness or fierceness in the progeny, they will probably lie near =
> important genes that underlie one of the two traits.
>
> The genes, if Mr. Albert finds them, would be of great interest =
> because they are presumably the same in all species of domesticated =
> mammal. That may even include humans. Richard Wrangham, a =
> primatologist at Harvard, has proposed that people are a =
> domesticated form of ape, the domestication having been self- =
> administered as human societies penalized or ostracized individuals =
> who were too aggressive.
-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my =
private posts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love =
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