Sea Urchins Reveal Mysteries of Cancer, Alzheimer's & Infertility

Reported March 2007

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, ah, they're actually related to us. So sea urchins and humans share a common ancestor," Cristina Calestani, Ph.D., a developmental geneticist at University of Central Florida in Orlando, tells Ivanhoe.

...Even though they don't look like us.

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. In fact, there are several genes in the sea urchin involving Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy and many other cancer-related genes. And infertility may be another problem the sea urchin helps solve. No wonder -- each urchin can produce 20 million eggs.

When you compare the human and sea urchin genes, quite a few of the amino acid sequences are a perfect match.

"You really need a relatively simple system in order to study ... but still, also you want it to be complex enough and closer enough to vertebrate in order to use this information," Dr. Calestani says.

Sea urchins are one of the few invertebrates on our branch of the evolutionary tree, sharing more genes with humans than fruit flies and worms -- and can be reproduced for research faster than other animals. Dr. Calestani says that means researchers can produce large amount, practically unlimited amount of material. And with a complete map of the urchin's DNA, they can better understand how genes work, so when diseases like cancer strike, maybe someday doctors will know exactly how to treat and even prevent them.

Another fascinating fact is sea urchins don't have eyes, ears or a nose, but they have the genes humans have for vision, hearing and smelling.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala
News & Information
University of Central Florida
(407) 823-6120
zkotala@mail.ucf.edu

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