Recent studies show that human DNA is evolving, and here we explain all the details so you can understand this amazing finding.
DNA is the genetic material that contains the hereditary information responsible for the development and functioning of all living organisms.
A small portion or sequence of DNA is called a nucleotide, or bases, which are adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine. A group of nucleotides makes up a gene, which is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity.
Genes have the function of encoding information to produce chains of ribonucleic acid (RNA), peptides and proteins, which can have different functions in cells and in the body.
On the other hand, a chromosome is an ordered sequence of genes, and the set of chromosomes is called the genome. All this genetic information is contained within the nucleus of cells and is the basic basis of our existence, as this information is transmitted from parents to children, from one generation to another.
The human genome, on the other hand, consists of DNA sequences located in 23 pairs of chromosomes that are unique to each human individual and which, unlike primates and other organisms, give us the skills of cognitive development, thinking, and the ability to develop art. , Science and Technology.
The DNA inside the nucleus of our cells is never at rest, it is always working, coding and giving instructions to create new peptides and proteins.
Although the human genome has been extensively studied, recent research shows that our DNA is the hero of truly surprising and unexpected processes, in which new small genes with a biological function are created directly or after their creation.
We told you earlier that a gene is made up of nucleotides and these in turn are made up of DNA sequences.
Within these sequences that make up the gene, there is a regulatory region formed by an “enhancer” and another part containing introns (non-coding DNA) and exons (coding DNA). It can scale from hundreds of base pairs (small genes) to thousands of base pairs (large genes).
Non-coding DNA used to be called junk DNA, as it was long believed that because it did not encode information, it was unimportant, its utility was null and it had no specific function. But recent studies show that these DNA sequences play an important role in gene regulation.
Experts from Institute for Basic Biomedical Research, Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Centerfrom Vari in Greece, published in the scientific journal Cell reports They found 155 small genes that are made up of non-coding DNA, and which indeed appear to have specific and essential functions within the cell.
Some of these precise genes are very important, although they are difficult to find and are thought to have emerged more recently and others have been with us longer, such as when Homo sapiens species branched off from chimpanzees.
In the article, the scientists state that “for the most part, these organisms lack coding and facultative signatures, confirming their recent status.”
They also state the importance of their work, because it represents a great contribution to our understanding of how the human genome evolved, with the amazing novelty that junk DNA is able to encode proteins throughout the human lineage.
Moreover, they stress that future research could find new microgenes, as well as reveal their precise role in human physiology or rule out that they cause any disease.
If you want to know and learn more about this amazing research, click here.
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