# Sea Urchins' Genetics Add To Knowledge Of Cancer, Alzheimer's And Infertility



## Rosemary (Mar 28, 2010)

Researchers are using the sea urchins to study and understand diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and muscular dystrophy. 

Although they are invertebrates, the creatures share a common ancestor with humans and have more than 7,000 of the same genes. With a complete map of their DNA, scientists can learn how to treat and prevent diseases in humans better.

They're small, spiky and spineless. But what do prehistoric sea urchins have in common with humans? Uncovering their mysteries may help solve some of science's most difficult and deadly problems.
"At a genetic level, they're actually related to us. So sea urchins and humans share a common ancestor,"

Sea urchins and humans share more than 7,000 genes, and biologists are now using these sea creatures to unlock the mysteries of human diseases.


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## Boneman (Mar 28, 2010)

> They're small, spiky and spineless. But what do prehistoric sea urchins have in common with humans?


 
Well you've answered that question already... What's the betting that the 'cure' will only be a drug derived from spineless drug companies that only wnat to make money, not actually help mankind? Note to self: stop being so cynical about drug companies...


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## Rosemary (Mar 28, 2010)

Sorry I forgot to post the link to the article, so it wasn't me who answered that question, Boneman.  

Sea Urchins Reveal Medical Mysteries -- Sea Urchins' Genetics Add To Knowledge Of Cancer, Alzheimer's And Infertility


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## Dave (Mar 28, 2010)

Rosemary said:


> "At a genetic level, they're actually related to us. So sea urchins and humans share a common ancestor"


I can't see how that statement could ever NOT be true. Unless we are descendants of aliens not from Earth (and even then there is the possibility of panspermia.)


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## Karn Maeshalanadae (Apr 1, 2010)

Boneman said:


> Note to self: stop being so cynical about drug companies...


 


Why? I'd question your judgment if you WEREN'T cynical about them.


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## skeptical (Apr 2, 2010)

I once worked for a drug company, so have better reason than most to be cynical about them.  However, it is worth remembering that they are heavily regulated by government legislation in western nations.   Each and every product they make has to be tested in numerous ways.   Literally thousands of tests.   Final government approval, which is required in each and every western nation before those drugs can be sold, is only given after literally encyclopedic amounts of test results.   A powerful new drug may cost a billion dollars just for the testing program.

In other words, if something nasty slips through, it is more likely to be a problem with government agencies than with the drug company.

The ones I am most cynical about are those who sell therapies that do *not* have to undergo that testing program.   This includes herbal remedies, homeopathic remedies and the like.   It is in the untested sphere that the worst abuses occur.


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## Severus (Apr 2, 2010)

Aren't humans genetically related to EVERYTHING, given that everythng shares a common ancestor with everything else, including things like plants?


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## skeptical (Apr 2, 2010)

Sea urchins are members of the phylum echinodermata.   This phylum is considered to be close to the line of descent leading to all animals with backbones.   In this sense, they are more closely related than most.


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