| THE HANDSTAND | 2ndWINTER2011 November-December |
To be or Not To Be Human... or
Chimpanzee
Junk DNA differentiates our
life to be human or chimp
Thu Oct 27, 2011
A new study suggests that the DNA sequences of human and
chimpanzee genes are nearly identical and that alteration
in DNA pieces near genes induces differences between the
two species.
The new research conducted in the Georgia Institute of
Technology has rejected the long believed idea about the
vast phenotypic differences between humans and
chimpanzees.
The scientists had earlier claimed that two species must
have significantly different genetic formation while now
they learn that the insertion and deletion of large
pieces of DNA near genes are responsible for major
differences between humans and chimpanzees, Science
Daily reported.
While the DNA sequence of genes between two species is
almost identical, there are large genomic gaps nearby
genes that can affect the extent to which genes are 'turned
on' and 'turned off', clarified by the research team led
by Georgia Tech Professor of Biology John McDonald.
"These genetic gaps have primarily been caused by
the activity of retroviral-like transposable element
sequences which were once considered 'junk DNA' with
little or no function. Now it appears that they may be
one of the major reasons why we are so different from
chimpanzees," said McDonald.
The morphological and behavioral divergent expressions
between two species are predominately due to differences
in the regulation of genes rather than to differences in
the sequence of the genes themselves, the team concluded.
FGP/IS