Much evidence suggests that “developmental regulator” genes, like those encoding
transcription factors and signaling molecules, are typically controlled by many modular,
tissue-specific cis-regulatory elements that function during embryogenesis. These elements
are often far from gene coding regions and promoters. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs)
drive many processes in development relating to organogenesis and differentiation. Four
BMP family members, Bmp2, Bmp4, Bmp5, and Gdf6, are now known to be under the control …