An EU research project has investigated if arthropods and vertebrates have genetic links preserved through evolution. Genetic and transgenic studies revealed the molecular details surrounding these developmentally distant relatives.
Many biological processes in human development and disease are under the control of molecular clocks including the rhythmical formation of somites during vertebrate embryogenesis. Blocks of tissue, somites, give rise to vertebrae and associated muscle.
Further information: The tick-tock of the evolutionary molecular clock