Identifying ’chief executive’ cells theoretically can help understand how cells across the animal kingdom respond to stress and injury. Shutterstock.
Identifying 'chief executive' cells theoretically can help understand how cells across the animal kingdom respond to stress and injury. Shutterstock. The chain of command inside human cells is similar to the way a factory is run, two University of Queensland researchers say. But Dr Nathan Palpant and Associate Professor Mikael Boden 's big news is that they have found the password to the chief executive's computer - metaphorically speaking. "We discovered a simple but powerful rule revealing how cells are controlled by rare decision-making genes,' said Dr Palpant, from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience. "Like workers on a factory production line, each gene has a specific function. "The decision-making genes are like the supervisor, or the chief executive - rarer than the workers, and with the power to make big decisions and impact operations of the whole cell.
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