A new study shows how human beings continue to evolve despite the fact that we have parted ways with our primate cousins millions of years ago.
There are 155 genes in our genome that emerged from small, non-coding sections of DNA. Many seem to play a critical role in our biology, showing how novel genes can rapidly evolve to become essential.
New genes arise through mechanisms like duplication events, where our genetic machinery accidentally produces copies of pre-existing genes that can end up being useful over time.
The instructions that our bodies use to build molecule appear to have appeared from scratch in some of the stretches of DNA identified in the study.
Due to the small size of the new genes, they are hard to study and are often overlooked in research.
The evolutionary geneticist from BSRC Flemming in Greece started the project because he was interested in novel genes and how they come about.
After another study published interesting data, we were able to start work on this project.
A group of researchers at the University of California San Francisco cataloged a stack of microproteins that are produced by non-coding regions.
The team behind the new study created a genetic ancestral tree to compare the tiny sequence found in our genomes against those found in 99 other species.
Some of the new genes can be tracked all the way back to the earliest days of mammals. The two genes identified by the study seem to have arisen after the human-chimpanze split.
The team wrote in their paper that they sought to identify and examine cases in the human line of small proteins that evolved out of previously non coding sequence and acquired function.
For our understanding of the intriguing phenomenon of de novo gene birth, and also for our appreciation of the full functional potential of the human genome, this is doubly important.
Microproteins are known to have a wide range of functions from helping to regulate the expression of other genes to joining forces with largerproteins. Some microproteins are useful, but others are useless.
Trinity College Dublin geneticist Aoife Mc says that when you get into these small sizes of DNA, they are on the edge of what is interpretable from a genome sequence, and it is hard to know if it is biologically meaningful.
When the gorilla's ancestors branched off from the human's, one of the genes that builds our heart tissue came to light. It's clear that parts of our DNA can become essential to the body if this microgene is true.
The researchers deleted genes from lab-grown cells in order to understand the sequence's functions. Forty-four of the cell cultures showed growth defects, which were confirmed to be caused by missing sections of the genetic code.
The researchers found three of the new genes associated with disease. There may be a connection between the presence of these happenstance mutations at a single base position in the DNA and some diseases.
Modern technology and medicine can make it difficult to appreciate the scale of biological change humans have experienced. Our fitness has been shaped by diet and disease over the centuries, and will continue to evolve even in a technologically advanced world.
With our newfound ability to track these genes, we may be able to find out how the new genes are created.
There is a lot more functionally relevant stuff hidden in the human genome if we are right in what we think we have here.
The research was published in a journal.
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