May 2007
Remember all that stuff about Hox genes in the first year? Well it IS important! A study from Chicago shows that a primitive fish, Polyodon, shows expression of Hox and Sonic hedegog (one of my favourite gene names) in a pattern similar to that seen in tetrapods. The authors interpret this in terms of the gradual evolution of legs, over a 20 million year timescale.
Nature article (subscription needed to get past abstract), BBC article, an article by me about gene names.