Related to the model organisms we discuss in class, new evidence has come out within the past couple of years indicating that sea urchins may be used in genetic studies to help understand various human diseases. Indirectly, this article poses the idea that sea urchins could possibly serve as a new model organism. Despite being invertebrates and lacking various organisms such as a nose, eyes, and ears, the sea urchin shares more than 7000 genes with humans. Scientists are hoping that this degree of similarity between humans and sea urchins may help to uncover possible ways to fight—and hopefully someday, prevent—various life-threatening diseases. Due to its simplicity, the sea urchin is proving that it can be an asset to future genetic studies. Its short generation time and capability to produce up to 20 million progeny in its lifetime are some characteristics that indicate just how much potential this small-sized organism can have in the field of genetics.
One of the most interesting characteristics of the sea urchin is its long life span. A single sea urchin can live up to 100 years! This lifespan is far greater than any other model organism currently being studied. What is interesting about the sea urchin is that it has been determined they can live for such a long time because of their strong immune systems. Because of its relatively long lifespan, scientists are hoping that they can study the immune system and possibly uncover various ways in which diseases can be fought. In fact, according to the article, sea urchins have innate immunity, similar to humans. Innate immunity describes the inborn ability of an organism to resist contracting a particular disease (Webster’s Dictionary). The difference between the immune system of humans and the immune system of sea urchins is that humans acquire additional immunities over the course of their lives by being exposed to different pathogens, viruses and other disease-causing agents while sea urchins do not. What is fascinating about the similarity between the innate immunities of both sea urchins and humans is the evolution of both of their immune systems over time. The question boggling the minds of researchers today is how exactly sea urchins are able to live for so long without acquiring any additional immunities over their lifetime. Finding the answer to this question could prove to be a positive step in the right direction towards fighting human diseases.
From this article, there seems to be great potential in the research of the sea urchin genome. From studying the 7000 genes that sea urchins and humans have in common, human medicine could see a potential huge breakthrough in the way medicine is used to fight and prevent many life-threatening human diseases.
Link to article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/0304-sea_urchins_reveal_medical_mysteries.htm
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