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In the last installment of Three Chromosomes in a Trench Coat, we learned about gene expression and epigenetics. This episode takes a look at how changes in gene expression can drastically change the phenotype of an organism and help it survive in a changing environment (Spoiler alert – at the root they are the same processes). In many cases changing the expression of a few genes allows organisms to adapt to a change in the environment. For example, when the environment gets hotter, an insect (clam, spider, anemone, worm, etc.) a can upregulate (a.k.a. increase the expression of) heat shock proteins. Heat shock proteins (or Hsps) protect other proteins from being damaged by the warm temperatures. Similarly, when temperatures cool, upregulation of proteins that produce glycerol, and other sugar-alcohols, prevent internal tissues from freezing. Even these moderate changes in gene expression improve an organism’s fitness (a.k.a. the number of offspring contributed to the next generation). But there are also a number of organisms that, in the face of a changing environment, can alter the expression of hundreds of genes to produce an entirely different phenotype. Here are 3 examples that I think are really cool.
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