This genetically altered snake is proving useful to researchers. | Image: A. C. Tzika et al. (2023)

The scales on the back of the corn snake fit together to form an almost hexagonal pattern. A team led by Athanasia Tzika at the University of Geneva has now discovered that these patterns are the result of an interplay between positional information and molecular interactions. For their experiments, the researchers produced the first transgenic snake − using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene scissors to remove a gene that is responsible for scale formation.

A. C. Tzika et al.: Somitic positional information guides self-organized patterning of snake scales. Science Advances (2023)

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