ABSTRACT
The role of Hox genes in patterning of vertebrate body plans has been well documented(Capecchi 1996). Since the discovery of homeotic genes in the fruit fl y Drosophila (Lewis 1978), it has been held that changes in body plan would also involve Hox genes. By mutation analyses in the mouse, changes in Hox gene expression have been shown to cause changes in body plan, most prominently in the skeletal system (Wellik 2009).
