Caption: Sexual organs of C. elegans - top: the male tail, bottom: the developing vulva
Puberty is a period of extensive changes of body morphology and function. As much as we are familiar with these life-altering changes, relatively little is known about what sets the whole process in motion. Thanks to studies in the tiny worm C. elegans , the group of Helge Grosshans is getting closer to understanding how the onset of puberty is genetically controlled. Recently they uncovered a mechanism that initiates sexual organ maturation. The let-7 gene is considered a fundamental regulator of developmental timing in animals - in organisms as distinct as worms and mammals. It produces a small RNA, known as the let-7 microRNA (miRNA), that can silence other genes. In the model organism C. elegans , let-7 controls the transition from a juvenile to an adult animal.
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