Introduction & Summary:
We have spent the past semester studying the principles and mechanisms of heredity and gene expression, about the information inherited from our parents to make up the 20,000+ genes that make us unique and encode for our body’s every structure and function. But where did these genes come from in the first place? How are new genes made?
In an April 28, 2014 article for the New York Times, “The Continuing Evolution of Genes,” science writer and lecturer Carl Zimmer reported on just these questions. According to Zimmer, for years the prevalent theory on the origin of new genes related to gene families, which develop through the evolution of DNA duplicated by cells. New genes develop through evolutionary changes in…show more content… However, a study published in January 2014 by Yusuke Suenaga of the Chiba Cancer Center Research Institute in Japan identified NCYM, a de novo gene found in humans and chimpanzees, which encodes for a protein which affects the pathogenesis of childhood brain tumors. Aoife McLysaght of the Molecular Evolution Lab at Trinity College Dublin is researching evidence of 40 additional de novo genes in the human genome, and other researchers suggest there may be even more. Although compelling evidence for the mechanism and importance of de novo genes has been documented and published, Zimmer reminds the reader that further research is needed to fully understand de novo genes, investigate other possible origins of genes, and the real impact of “new” genes on genetic diversity and the human…show more content… Drosophila is an important and useful example of a model organism. A model organism is a non-human species which has been extensively researched and possesses characateristics that are useful in genetic analysis. These organisms have a known genetic history/sequenced genome, a short life cycle, and a large number of progeny; they also display numerous genetic variants and can be easily raised and bred in the laboratory. What makes Drosophila melanogaster an especially useful organism for genetics research, is that not only has its genome been sequenced, but the genome of 11 additional species of Drosophila, all related to a common ancestor over 60 million years ago, have also been sequenced. This common ancestry and the fully sequenced genomes allow genetics researchers to use Drosophila to conduct advanced evolutionary analysis. For example, 77% of the 13,733 genes in D. melanogaster have orthologs or paralogs in other species; studies such as Dr Begun’s help account for the origins of the remaining
