A gene regulatory sequence that scientists have hit on explains the theory of evolution a little more clearly in the monkey-man phase. They claim that this sequence encourages dexterity of human hands with a sort of thumb and limb generation.
Led by Eddy Rubin, the Director of Berkeley Lab's Genomics Division and the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, a research team introduced the human-accelerated conserved noncoding sequence 1 (HACNS1) into a mouse embryo system.
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According to them, the sequence enhanced gene expression in limb and brain, which meant a gain of function.
Rubin says that the next question before the research team was if the human and chimp elements have sequence differences, why they still function similarly.
For determining this, they placed the chimp version of the gene sequence in mice, and found that the human and chimp sequences have very different expression properties.
"Our results led us to believe that HACNS1 has contributed to uniquely human aspects of digit and limb patterning. We suspect the gain of function in HACNS1 may have influenced the evolution of these or other human limb features by altering the expression of nearby genes during limb development," Rubin said.
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"To get a more complete picture of our HACNS1 factors into human morphological evolution will require additional studies. If this really is deterministic, you should see some type of change. But it will be a long, hard path forward," according to Rubin," Rubin said.
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"The study points to how human nucleotide substitutions can alter the regulation of genes in humans distinct from that of non-human primates, such as chimps. This highlights a strategy that could be applied across the genome to understand at a molecular level what leads to differences between humans and non-human primates," said Rubin.
The study has been published in the online edition of the journal Science.
Source-ANI
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