L'uomo ha lontani "cugini" davvero insospettabili. I ricercatori dell'Istituto di scienza e tecnologia dell'università di Okinawa hanno infatti scoperto che dei vermi che vivono nei fondali marini presentano migliaia di geni simili ai nostri, probabilmente ereditati da un antico antenato comune vissuto 500 milioni di anni fa. I risultati dello studio sono stati pubblicati su Nature.
L'attenzione degli esperti, in seguito all'analisi del DNA di due vermi appartenenti a specie diverse, è stata attirata, in particolare, da un gruppo di geni coinvolto nello sviluppo della faringe dei vermi marini, in quanto, anche nell'uomo, geni simili sembrano controllare la formazione della faringe e anche della tiroide.
Per questo gli autori dello studio suppongono che ci siano degli elementi che legano il funzionamento della nostra tiroide con quello della faringe che permette ai vermi marini di filtrare l'acqua dell'oceano alla ricerca di cibo.
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