A multi-institutional study offers additional insight into the evolutionary process by examining how albinism evolves in cavefish. Researchers, including New York University Biology Professor Richard Borowsky, examined two populations of Mexican cavefish and found that albinism in both populations was linked to Oca2 -- a pigmentation gene also responsible for the most common form of albinism in humans. They observed different deletions in the gene in each population and found that both deletions cause a loss of Oca2’s functionality, demonstrating that the albinism in the two groups evolved independently. The findings are reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature Genetics. (...)
Full text: Sciencedaily.com & Nyu.edu
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