How a Jawless Vertebrate Parasite Reveals Evolutionary Origins of the Thyroid
Research News
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Aug 6, 2025
The thyroid, a vital endocrine organ in vertebrates, plays a key role in regulating metabolism and supporting growth. The first gland of both the nervous system and endocrine system to mature during an embryo’s development, it initially evolved more than 500 million years ago out of a “primitive” precursor organ in chordates known as the endostyle. Now, using lamprey as a model organism, Caltech researchers have discovered how the evolutionary acquisition of a certain kind of stem cell, called a neural crest cell, facilitated the evolution of the endostyle into the thyroid.
The research is described in a paper appearing in the journal Science Advances on August 6. The work was conducted primarily in the laboratory of Marianne Bronner, the Edward B. Lewis Professor of Biology,director of Caltech’s Beckman Institute and affiliated faculty member with the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech.
The thyroid, a vital endocrine organ in vertebrates, plays a key role in regulating metabolism and supporting growth. The first gland of both the nervous system and endocrine system to mature during an embryo’s development, it initially evolved more than 500 million years ago out of a “primitive” precursor organ in chordates known as the endostyle. Now, using lamprey as a model organism, Caltech researchers have discovered how the evolutionary acquisition of a certain kind of stem cell, called a neural crest cell, facilitated the evolution of the endostyle into the thyroid.
The research is described in a paper appearing in the journal Science Advances on August 6. The work was conducted primarily in the laboratory of Marianne Bronner, the Edward B. Lewis Professor of Biology,director of Caltech’s Beckman Institute and affiliated faculty member with the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech.
