Dang. My parents just found my The Cure shirt from 8th grade (1988).
Justin Blumenstiel
@bdelloid.bsky.social
1K followers 1.3K following 1K posts
Evolution, Genomics, Genetics, Epigenetics, Transposons, Small RNAs, Meiosis, Politics, Music, Kansas....AND DROSOPHILA!!! Freaked out ribosome and DNA truther doing my own research. "We are our own reviewers" - Alejandro Montenegro
![In addition to the ways that genome defense has been recruited for host function, a number of other mechanisms of immunity have been also
recruited in a developmental context. If the ancestral function of RNA silencing was for immunity (See Box 1, but also see [155]), then
developmental regulation by miRNAs represents a striking example of adaptation derived from an immune module. But there are a number of
additional examples whereby immune function has been repurposed for development. Proteins carrying Toll/interleukin-1/resistance gene
(TIR) domains play a role in immunity signaling across animals, plants and bacteria, suggesting an ancestral immune function [156–159]. This
ancestral function has subsequently been repurposed in Toll-like receptors for a variety of developmental functions in flies [160], nematodes
[161], sea anemone [162] and also in mammals.. Another
example of immune function repurposing is provided by the process of synaptic pruning mediated by the complement cascade protein C1q. ...In the developing brain, synaptic pruning of excess or weak synapses is critical for proper neuronal connectivity and complement
cascade protein C1q has been shown to trigger synapse elimination via engulfment by microglia, ..
Why might immune function be frequently repurposed for development? I propose two reasons. First, the logic of immunity, which targets
suppression based on information about the target (i.e, self vs non-self), can be inherently useful for targeted suppression of gene expression or
cell-type. ... A second reason that immune systems may be frequently repurposed is based
on an evolvability argument. It seems reasonable that, from a fitness perspective, pathogens are a (the?) primary challenge for living organisms.
For this reason,..speculatively, I propose that evolution of immune or defense systems would be a primary requirement and that
developmental refinement of form would be a secondary target for natural selection during early evolution](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hhr34pirtni2ctdd6p7jbrq2/bafkreia67juqqxxvvevfzrzz63gm24u4sjx4dvxtoimvxbivoe6w3qshza)
