Mothers against decapentaplegic

{{Short description|Protein}}

File:Protein SMAD2 PDB 1dev.png, 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.{{Cite news|url=https://psmag.com/environment/sonic-hedgehog-dicer-problem-naming-genes-91386|title=Sonic Hedgehog, DICER, and the Problem With Naming Genes|last=White|first=Michael|date=September 26, 2014|work=Pacific Standard|access-date=October 20, 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/gene-month-mothers-against-decapentaplegic|title=Gene of the month - Mothers Against Decapentaplegic|date=September 9, 2012|work=The Naked Scientists|access-date=October 20, 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.omim.org/entry/600993|title=OMIM Entry - * 600993 - MOTHERS AGAINST DECAPENTAPLEGIC, DROSOPHILA, HOMOLOG OF, 4; SMAD4|date=January 18, 1996|website=Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man|publisher=Johns Hopkins University|access-date=October 20, 2018}}

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