Evo Devo

N C Huxley B Mac Oh Carroll, Carroll Gould, Stephen Jay yeah D-D-D-D-Davidson and Peter Bm G See one cell divide and decide on a thousand fates D A Did you ever figure how they know? B Mac) Bm G We are built of modules combined in a planned out way D A Each new piece must be told where to go Oh Bm G Now there's a science helping us to understand D How our cells encode this architectural plan A Signalling each other with genetic tools oh (oh yeah) Bm G Wow phenotype the interface for mouse and man D Genotype the files and the subprograms A What then are the switches, circuit boards and boot code? Bm Evo-Devo G Looking at the logic in the ways that we grow D Every gene directed by a signal key code A Proteins that can activate, enhance or veto Bm Evo-Devo G Signals are controlled by other genes that signal D Calculating in a network labyrinthal A Where the heart and liver and the hands and feet go Bm G Signal mapping tells each region what it ought to be yo D With circuits so deeply built upon A They're older than the Pale-o (The Paleozoic Era baby) Bm G In a crucial pathway changes tend to get torpedoed D Where they go calamity goes A As this cyclopic sheep knows Bm See down they cascade like a domino Like you and I drosophila G The path that makes us optical Was laid a long long time ago D Back before we blew up the cambrian like a bomb bomb A Now my eye protein can make you see out of your bom bom Bm And Hedgehog and its relatives like Indian and Sonic G Set up set up in a gradient on segments embryonic D Split forebrains and asymmetric parts depend upon it A Flipping on genetic switches and logic Bm From devo to evo; Adult and embryo G Mostly don't evolve in the genes of the genome D Safer the mutation aimed at regulation A Keep the building blocks and swap their activation Bm From devo to evo; Parts have alter egos G Homologs evolved from repeats in the schema D Switch a couple bases in the proper places A You'll be watching flies grow legs out of their faces oh yeah A Bm Evo-Devo G Stick around for Modern Synthesis the sequel D Only by combining can a new theory grow A Evolution and development amigos Bm Evo-Devo G Signals trigger patterns of complexity so D Switching up the switches of a signalling node A Gives a modular and simple way to evolve Bm G Look at how our spinal segments generate a neat row D Built on a molecular clock A One cycle, one vertebra (One vertebra one vertebra baby) Bm G Speeding up its rate is snakes' developmental cheat code D That and where a lizard's feet grow A They turn off distal aminos Bm Evo-Devo G This is how we go from single cells to people D Every generation and in life primeval A Life in variations endless and beautiful Bm From devo to evo; Larva to mosquito G () Patterns are resolved as the signals pro (ceed yo) D Map out a gene with a glow tag A () K**l it with a morpholino(Short oligo morpholi (no baby)) Bm From devo to evo; Voyage of the Beagle G () Body plans evolve when proteins steer the (genome) D In this manner life's beauty grows A Aesthetica in vivo Bm Evo-Devo