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Evolving complexity out of 'junk DNA'
February 12, 2008The study, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, claims to have solved this scientific riddle by analysing the genomics of primitive living fishes such as sharks and lampreys and their spineless relatives, such as the sea squirts.
Vertebrates - animals such as humans that possess a backbone - are the most anatomically and genetically complex of all organisms, but explaining how they achieved this complexity has vexed scientists since the conception of evolutionary theory.
Alysha Heimberg of Dartmouth College and her colleagues showed that microRNAs, a class of tiny molecules only recently discovered residing within what has usually been considered 'junk DNA', are hugely diverse in even the most lowly of vertebrates, but relatively few are found in the genomes of our invertebrate relatives.
She explained: "There was an explosive increase in the number of new microRNAs added to the genome of vertebrates and this is unparalleled in evolutionary history."
Co-author, Dr Philip Donoghue of Bristol University's Department of Earth Sciences continued: "Most of these new genes are required for the growth of organs that are unique to vertebrates, such as the liver, pancreas and brain. Therefore, the origin of vertebrates and the origin of these genes is no coincidence."
Dr Kevin Peterson of Dartmouth College said: "This study not only points the way to understanding the evolutionary origin of our own lineage, but it also helps us to understand how our own genome was assembled in deep time."
University of Bristol
She explained: "There was an explosive increase in the number of new microRNAs added to the genome of vertebrates and this is unparalleled in evolutionary history."
Co-author, Dr Philip Donoghue of Bristol University's Department of Earth Sciences continued: "Most of these new genes are required for the growth of organs that are unique to vertebrates, such as the liver, pancreas and brain. Therefore, the origin of vertebrates and the origin of these genes is no coincidence."
Dr Kevin Peterson of Dartmouth College said: "This study not only points the way to understanding the evolutionary origin of our own lineage, but it also helps us to understand how our own genome was assembled in deep time."
University of Bristol
Genomics Current Events and Genomics News RSSPathogen protection and virulence: Dark side of fungal membrane protein revealed
Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and Montana State University have discovered a fungal protein that plays a key role in causing disease in plants and animals and which also shields the pathogen from oxidative stress.
Study sheds light on evolution of human complexity
A painstaking analysis of thousands of genes and the proteins they encode shows that human beings are biologically complex, at least in part, because of the way humans evolved to cope with redundancies arising from duplicate genes.
TGen seeks emergency FDA approval of new swine flu test
The Phoenix-based non-profit Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) announced today that, along with a business collaborator, it will submit a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use of a new test to diagnose the 2009 H1N1 swine flu virus.
Will genomics help prevent the next pandemic?
This week, the Public Library of Science, an open-access publisher, presents the "Genomics of Emerging Infectious Disease," a collection of essays, perspectives, and reviews that explores how genomics-with all its associated tools and techniques-can provide insights into our understanding of emerging infectious disease.
Standards for a new genomic era
A team of geneticists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, together with a consortium of international researchers, has recently proposed a set of standards designed to elucidate the quality of publicly available genetic sequencing information.
Exon-skipping drug prevents muscle wasting, maintains muscle function in dystrophin deficient mice
An exon skipping PPMO has demonstrated dramatic effects in the prevention and treatment of severely affected, dystrophin and utrophin-deficient mice, preventing severe deterioration of the treated animals and extending their lifespan.
Time in a bottle: Scientists watch evolution unfold
A 21-year Michigan State University experiment that distills the essence of evolution in laboratory flasks not only demonstrates natural selection at work, but could lead to biotechnology and medical research advances, researchers said.
TraDIS technique tackles typhoid
For the first time, researchers are able to look at the need for every gene in a bacterial cell in a single experiment. The new method will transform the study of gene activity and the search for weaknesses in bacterial armouries.
Whale-sized genetic study largest ever for southern hemisphere humpbacks
After 15 years of research in the waters of the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and an international coalition of organizations have unveiled the largest genetic study of humpback whale populations ever conducted in the Southern Hemisphere.
Establishing standard definitions for genome sequences
In 1996, researchers from major genome sequencing centers around the world convened on the island of Bermuda and defined a finished genome as a gapless sequence with a nucleotide error rate of one or less in 10,000 bases.
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