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The evolution of organisms has been a major topic in biology, and more recently, A group of scientists has revealed an astonishing discovery: human DNA continues to evolve through new mechanisms.Researchers at the Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Centre in Greece and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, found that 155 genes in the human genome have no similar sequences to any other known genes, suggesting they arose entirely from scratch.
New de novo genes and their impact
Until now, it was known that new genes could arise mainly through duplication of existing genes and their subsequent mutations. However, this study found that the 155 new genes emerged spontaneously from non-coding DNA, previously known as “junk DNA.” This reveals that these previously underestimated regions of the genome play critical roles in development and gene regulation.
To reach these conclusions, the researchers analyzed the evolution of several microproteins with critical biological functions in humans. Aoife McLysaght, one of the study’s authors, commented: “It was really exciting to work on something so new. When you start to get into these little bits of DNA, they’re really at the edge of what can be interpreted from the genome sequence, and they’re in that area where it’s hard to know whether they have biological significance.
Relationship with diseases and modern development
The study also found that Some of these new genes are closely linked to specific human diseases, such as muscular dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa, and Al-Azami syndrome.This suggests that these genes, although recently discovered, already have a significant impact on our biology and health.
Moreover, the research showed that some of these genes are human-specific, having emerged after the evolutionary split between humans and chimpanzees. A prominent example is the gene associated with human heart tissue, which appeared when humans and chimpanzees split from gorillas.
The discovery of these new genes could represent a major advance in human genome research and in understanding our evolution. However, more research is needed to fully understand the specific mechanisms underlying their generation and behavior in the organism. As McLysaght points out, these genes have reached the limit of interpretability, posing both challenges and opportunities for future research.
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