Biomineralisation.pdf

Animals as complex as humans share a common ancestor with simpler animals, and one key event in their evolution was the ability to "biomineralise", or synthesize mineralized body parts by combining organic molecules with environmental minerals. This ability, which ranges from a sponge's silica precipitation to a human's skeleton organization, is responsible for the fabrication of endo- and exoskeletons and other structures. Professor Daniel Jackson's research group studies biomineralisation in snails and sponges to understand how this ability evolved and how it allows animals to make shells, spicules, teeth, and spines. They use whole genome sequencing and comparative approaches to identify genes and cellular processes involved in biomineralisation, and have discovered that the autophagy pathway is used by sponges to build their skeletons. Understanding biomineralisation can provide insight into the Cambrian Explosion, a period of rapid animal diversification over 540 million years ago.