Study identifies a key to bone formation, vertebrate evolution

Researchers have identified a key action of a watershed gene critical to bone formation and the evolution of vertebrates. The Sp7 or Osterix gene more than likely emerged from an ancestral gene family about 400 million years ago, expanding the diversity of life and programming the development of bone-secreting osteoblast cells. The closest living relatives to vertebrates, including sea squirts and lampreys, lack bone and an Sp7 gene.