We are familiar with the structure of human heart but the evolutionary origin of our conduction system has nevertheless remained a mystery for us..However the researchers have recently come up with the conclusion that the spongy tissue in reptile hearts is the forerunner of the complex hearts of both birds and mammals.
The study conducted by Bjarke Jensen from Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University along with Danish colleagues and others from University Of Amsterdam has revealed the discovery that the genetic building blocks for highly developed conductive tissue are actually hidden behind the thin wall in the spongy hearts of reptiles.
The heart of several cold-blooded animals like frogs, lizards and zebrafish were studied to investigate the gene that determines which parts of the heart are responsible for conducting the activating current. While comparing the adult hearts from reptiles with embryonic hearts from birds and mammals they discovered a common molecular structure that's hidden by the anatomical differences. So it is simply the spongy inner tissue in the foetal heart that gets stretched out to become a fine network of conductive tissue in adult birds and mammals.
This path-breaking discovery can provide us with a better understanding of how the heart works in the early months of foetal life in humans thereby leading to fewer miscarriages due to foetal cardiac abnormalities....
