When Is a Mouse a Good Stand-In for Mateo?
Take the reading one piece at a time. For each piece: read it once, underline the sentence that says what happens, then look up any word in the list. Tap a word to see its definition.
Piece 1 of 2
A team studied a gene called Ezh2 in the developing palate. They could not delete it from the whole mouse, because losing it everywhere kills the embryo before the palate even forms. So they deleted it only in the cells lining the roof of the mouth, only during palate building, and collected tissue at embryonic day 14.0, just before the shelves lift and fuse. About 20% of the mutant mice were born with a cleft palate; the other 80% closed normally. A mouse is even on the table because mouse and human palates are built by the same basic script: shelves grow down beside the tongue, lift to horizontal, then meet and fuse at the midline.
Piece 2 of 2
Now read two claims about a mouse model of clefting. Claim A: the mouse is good because the gene knocked out is the same pathway suspected in human clefts. Claim B: the mouse is good because the mutant pups are actually born with a visible cleft palate, like a human. These are two different kinds of good. One is about matching the cause. The other is about matching the look.
Reading the Research
- Skim the title and abstract first to get the gist.
- Circle the one sentence that states the main claim.
- Box the evidence the authors give for that claim.
- Mark one sentence that confuses you, and move on.
Now put it together: In one or two sentences, say what this whole reading is telling you about Mateo. Then go back to the lesson and fill in the guided notes.