Professor Gehring discovered the existence of a gene for eye development that occurs in organisms as varied as fruit flies and humans. By experimentally transplanting a mouse version of the gene into a fruit fly, he demonstrated that this is a "master control gene" for eye development. These observations lead Gehring to hypothesize that the potential for eyes probably evolved only once, and the "master control gene" has been conserved and passed on throughout evolutionary history as part of the genetic tool kit that governs growth and development. |
