STM Article Repository

Morphogenesis consists of the process of increasing the number of cells and the process of activation of protein synthesis in cells. Mendelian protein-coding genes are responsible for protein synthesis. As for the genes responsible for the construction of ensembles consisting of cells, they are not known. In 2000, a new class of mutations was discovered in D. melanogaster, which were called conditional. The genes responsible for the formation of these mutations were called ontogenes. Based on the results of the research on conditional mutations in D. melanogaster, we attempt to figure out the biological role of ontogenes. We conclude that ontogenes in the process of individual development control the construction of the living organisms of cells (cellular construction), which comprises the induction of cell division, determination of division plane, and the location of daughter cells after the division is completed. According to the data obtained, the morphogenesis process is controlled by ontogenes and Mendelian genes. Protein synthesis is controlled by protein-coding (Mendelian) genes. Mendelian genes are switched on by ontogenes. In terms of the two-component genome composed of Mendelian genes and ontogenes, we consider 1) the concept of biological character; 2) interspecific incompatibility; 3) ontogenesis; 4) phylogenesis; and 5) mutagenesis. Ontogenes, which control cellular construction, possess the specific features unusual for Mendelian genes, namely, 1) the activity in germ line tissue; 2) remote interaction; and 3) activity in a compacted state (heterochromatization). These specific features of ontogenes suggest that, unlike the Mendelian genes with their chemical activity, ontogenes possess another type of activity (biophysical) involving the induction of an electromagnetic field.