Mothers against decapentaplegic

Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 2, one of the nine homologues of mothers against decapentaplegic.

Mothers against decapentaplegic is a protein from the SMAD family that was discovered in Drosophila. During Drosophila research, it was found that a mutation in the gene in the mother repressed the gene decapentaplegic in the embryo. The phrase "Mothers against" was added as a humorous take-off on organizations opposing various issues e.g. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD); and based on a tradition of such unusual naming within the gene research community.^[1]

Several human homologues are known:

• Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 1
• Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 2
• Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3
• Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4
• Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 5
• Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 6
• Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 7
• Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 9

References