In a recent study, researchers at Cambridge University have updated the classic Turing theory on how animals get their spots and stripes. The Turing theory, proposed by renowned mathematician Alan Turing in 1952, proposes that the patterns in animal coats are formed by chemical and electrical processes known as morphogen gradients. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, has revealed that a new class of molecules known as chromatoid bodies may also play a role in generating patterns on animals’ coats.
The study, conducted by Doctor Corina Grant and Professor Alison Woollard, used a combination of theoretical modelling and experimental work on a species of zebrafish. The scientists simulated the activity of morphogen gradients and chromatoid bodies in different conditions to see how they interacted with each other and how the presence of the chromatoid bodies affected the patterns created on the animals’ coats.
The results of the study revealed that chromatoid bodies could enhance the pattern already created by the morphogen gradient, allowing for richer and more complex patterns to form on animal coats. The researchers believe that the findings of the study could help explain the intricacy and variation seen in the pattern of animal coats.
The study also presented an alternative to Turing’s original idea, suggesting that the gradients don’t create the patterns alone. Instead, a combination of the morphogen gradients and the chromatoid bodies are at play, allowing for the creation of more complex designs.
The implications of the study go beyond simply evolutionary theory and animal coats. As the mechanisms studied in the study have implications for biological processes, the results could be applied to a range of fields, such as understanding the formation of tumours or investigating chemical processes in the body.
This study builds upon Alan Turing’s classic theory on how animals get their spots and stripes, and demonstrates the importance of chromatoid bodies in the creation of animal coat patterns. The implications of the findings could open up a range of new research possibilities in the fields of developmental biology and evolutionary theory.