Chapter 6

The fact that humans, chickens, fish, reptiles, even jellyfish are all formed from one of the three layers as Shubin mentions is amazing. They all look different and serve different purposes as they become adults, but the limbs, the heart, and many other organs are formed in the embryo stage. Then, Shubin goes on to talk about flies and men. Flies?! I abhor flies, but they are important because mutations in flies helped to reveal that versions of the Hox genes, that scientists were trying to find, appear in every animal with a body. To think that the small, despicable pests around the house as important is shocking. Plus, some having legs where an antenna should have been? Not cute... I found the picture on page 109 to be extremely helpful in understanding how important it was for scientists to find the Hox genes. When Shubin describes genes as a cake recipe being passed down, I understood him completely. He summed up the chapter very well by using a simile that I could relate to. It helped me understand the concept of being similar to jellyfish, which I thought was never possible.