A simple invertebrate sea creature may be able to help scientists better understand the cause of heart defects in human babies, leading to better and more effective treatment options, reports a new study published in the journal Developmental Biology.
Researchers at the University of Arizona are studying a headless, limbless water-dwelling creature — a sea squirt in the genus Ciona. Although mature Clona look like little more than leathery sacks, the species shares more genetic characteristics with vertebrates than any other invertebrate.
Scientists are capitalizing on this similarity in order to study how the heart is built in the growing embryo. Clona embryos take only 24 hours to mature and are translucent, making it possible for researchers to watch the heart cells develop. They also contain only a few hundred genes — and, unlike mammals, have each gene only once — allowing researchers to pinpoint precisely which genes are involved in heart development.
The researchers hope that they will be able to apply what they learn from Clona in order to develop better detection and treatment methods for congenital heart defects in human infants.