In recent years, it has been reported that, in flies and plants, mutations in Hsp90 gene are capable to induce, with a low frequency, many different developmental abnormalities depending on the genetic backgrounds.
It was also reported that CNVs may be associated with many diseases and developmental abnormalities in domestic animals, such as cone-rod dystrophy 3 [ 41] and startle disease in dogs [ 42], osteopetrosis and abortions and stillbirths in cattle [ 43, 44].
Chd2 knockdown zebrafish have multiple developmental abnormalities, abnormal movements and epileptiform discharges (Suls et al., 2013).
Many CYPs potentially have roles in developmental specification, and many chemicals that cause developmental abnormalities are substrates for CYPs.
Almost all serious fetal genetic and developmental abnormalities (many lethal to the fetus) are detected by ultrasound and amniocentesis in the second trimester, not the first.
Many cloned fetus showed developmental abnormalities (mummies or stillborn).
Many chemicals that cause developmental abnormalities, including cardiovascular, neural, and connective tissue defects, are substrates for CYPs, and the oxidative biotransformation of such xenobiotics may determine the cellular and organ targets of those chemicals [ 12].
The various abnormalities demonstrated by the Vangl1/2 double mutants indicate that PCP is fundamentally important in many developmental processes.
Therefore, it is unsurprising that many studies provide evidence for a causal link between the altered expression of individual miRNAs and human diseases including cancer, developmental abnormalities and malfunctions of the immune system [ 1, 4].
