The Harvard Gazette

Ricardo Mallarino

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The African striped mouse (pictured) and the eastern chipmunk each have distinctive stripes down their backs that Harvard scientists believe are a byproduct of the cranio-facial gene Alx3 that both species evolved independent of one another.

Science of stripes

Study identifies genetic pathway in African mice, chipmunks

Health|

DateNovember 17, 2016March 4, 2019

Greater Antillean bullfinches use their deep and wide beaks to crush seeds and hard fruits. Harvard researchers have found that the molecular signals that produce a range of beak shapes in birds show even more variation than is apparent on the surface.

Pecking order

In birds’ development, researchers find diversity by the peck

Health|

DateSeptember 24, 2012May 31, 2019

Harvard Professor Hopi Hoekstra (left) and research associate in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Marie Manceau have found that a gene called agouti governs color patterns in deer mice, the most widespread mammal in North America, and may also be responsible for color pattern in a wide variety of species.

Designing gene

Agouti gene may generate patterns from stripes to spots in vertebrates

Health|

DateFebruary 24, 2011May 21, 2019