Scientists have discovered two genes essential for the development of muscle.
Da-Zhi Wang and other researchers of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said that the genes are among a recently discovered group of genes first found in worm 12 years ago.
Only in the past few years have they been recognised as essential gene regulators in many multi-cellular organisms, including humans, the study authors said in an article that appeared in the latest online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.
“Our interest is in understanding, at the level of gene expression, how muscle cells develop,” Wang said.