No gene is an island

Even as biologists catalog the discrete parts of life forms, an emerging picture reveals that life’s functions arise from interconnectedness

The gene p53 has long been singled out as an anticancer hero. It is a critical tumor fighter. A person or lab animal develops a tumor much faster without the gene than with it.

THE NETWORK | The diagram above outlines just a portion of the network that regulates genes in a sea urchin embryo.