Molecular Biology and Evolution of Crystalline

This text describes the molecular biology and evolution of the crystallins, the characteristic structural proteins of the eye lens, set in the overall context of the evolution of eyes.

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This text describes the molecular biology and evolution of the crystallins, the characteristic structural proteins of the eye lens, set in the overall context of the evolution of eyes. The novel mechanisms of gene recruitment which have given rise to the crystallins are linked to ancient common mechanisms which define the eye in divergent evolutionary lineages. This is a presentation of insights into the molecular mechanisms of the eye and the lens which have wider significance for other areas of molecular and developmental biology.