Question

Aniridia is a human condition in which the eye has no iris. The protein encoded by the gene responsible for aniridia is very nearly identical to the protein product of the fly Eyeless protein. What experiment could provide evidence that the two genes are functionally equivalent?

Answer 1

To test if the human aniridia gene and the fly's Eyeless gene are functionally equivalent, an experiment involving gene replacement in Drosophila could be performed. The success of eye development in flies with the human gene would suggest functional equivalence.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks about an experiment to provide evidence that the human gene responsible for aniridia and the fly Eyeless protein are functionally equivalent. One potential experiment to test this would involve gene manipulation techniques such as genetic engineering. Specifically, you could use a technique called gene replacement or transgenic expression. The experiment would replace the Eyeless gene in Drosophila with the human gene associated with aniridia. If the flies develop normal eyes, it would suggest that the two genes are functionally equivalent. This would be significant given that eye color in Drosophila was one of the first X-linked traits identified, and since Thomas Hunt Morgan mapped it to the X chromosome, genetics research has used Drosophila as a model organism. Moreover, because Drosophila males are hemizygous for the X chromosome, any effects of the replaced gene would be readily observable. This experiment would also build upon our understanding that many genetic traits, such as eye color determined by the EYCL3 gene in humans, follow Mendelian inheritance patterns of dominance and recessiveness.

Answer 2

An Experiment to get proof that the two genes are equivalent functionally will be to introduce the aneroid mutation from the human eye with the condition into the embryos of Drosophila (small fruit flies) and look out for the formation of iris.

Step-by-step explanation:

There exists a medical test called The Invitae Aniridia Test which can analyze the primary gene associated with aniridia however, in order to provide evidence that these same gene is also present in small fruit flies (a genus of flies called Drosophila) The method described in the answer above will do.