What is the novel and simple question that you will be addressing in your final project?
Context:
There has been evidence to show that all early animal embryos are characterized by a phase where they are transcriptionally silent. Because of the inactivity, embryos therefore rely on mRNAs that were synthesized by the mother and deposited into the cytoplasm of her eggs. In particular, Smaug is a RNA-binding protein that induces degradation and prevent the translation of the nanos mRNA in the bulk cytoplasm, thereby ensuring that nanos is only expressed in the posterior region.
Question:
If the Smaug protein targets and regulates the nanos mRNA, to what extent does the protein targets and regulates the mRNA of another maternal effect gene within the same region, caudal?