The Presence of PAX4- Is it always there?

Normally, we think of genes as being expressed our entire lifetime. For example, genes for hair color, height, and skin color are present our entire lives. But are there some genes that seem to only be present for a portion of a lifetime?

As unusual as it may sound, according to a study done by Stuart B. Smith, Hooi C. Ee, Jennifer R. Conners, and Michael S. German, it is evident that the Pax4 gene is only present during the earliest stages of development.

They did prove yet again that PAX4 is a potential miracle for

Type 1 Diabetes patients. According to their publication (link is in the title), in the abscence of PAX4, the number of insulin-producing beta cells drastically decreased, while the number of glucagon-producing alpha-cells increased.

Referring back to its visible presence, the paper notes that in a fetal mouse, PAX4 mRNA only played a role until day 13.5. Though this is a short time, the possible effect of the activation of this gene on the mice is quite formidable.

In case you didn't know, mRNA is simply a copy of DNA used to make proteins. mRNA carries the information to a ribosome, an organelle that is responsible for protein development. Organelles are tiny structures in cells that perform different functions, similar to organs in a body. Since enzymes are proteins, enzymes are also assembled here. However, the enzyme provided by the instructions from the PAX4 gene last for less than two weeks. Is there a way to fix this problem?

I have come up with a possible idea or two. The structure of an islet of Langerhans is as follows: a core of beta cells surrounded by alpha cells, and then various other enzyme-producing cells such as PP and somatostatin cells. The expression of PAX4, however, is limited to beta cells. If you recall from an earlier post, at the University of Texas, researchers Larry Denner and Randall Urban have gotten creative and used stem cells from the blood of umbilical cords (normally regarded as medical waste) to engineer insulin-producing beta cells. Randall and Urban say that in the near future, stem cells from umbilical cords may be used to engineer an entire pancreas for transplant. If this can be accomplished, and then the PAX4 gene of the engineered beta cells is stimulated, during the course of about two weeks, I believe the pancreas will be working hard to ameliorate the current crisis in the body.

Of course, this is just an idea, but I have given it a great deal of thought. If you have any ideas, or would like to comment on mine, please do so. You may read the article published by the four researchers from the top of this post by clicking on the link. Some of the material may be difficult to understand, but rewording and explanation should be available around the web.