Science News / Jumping Genes Provide Unexpected Diversity: "Jumping genes provide unexpected diversity
Mobile DNA elements help shape human genomes
By Tina Hesman Saey
Web edition : Sunday, February 15th, 2009
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CHICAGO ─ Mobile pieces of DNA may have given humans a jump-start on evolution, a new study reveals."
Thursday, February 19, 2009
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Unexpected Scientific Rationale
More On The 2009 Life Sciences March
A. "Jumping genes provide unexpected diversity"
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40922/title/Jumping_genes_provide_unexpected_diversity
Mobile DNA elements have stuffed and shrunk the human genome, a comparison of two genomes reveal
B. Pearls of new scientific insights
- "Mobile DNA elements help shape human genomes"
- "Mobile pieces of DNA may have given humans a jump-start on evolution, a new study reveals"
- "... genes have been actively shaping human and other primate evolution"
Unbelievable indeed! Exciting unexpected new scientific insights!
C. Common current misconception...
- "Jumping genes, pieces of DNA that replicate and insert themselves into a host’s genome..."
Whereas genes are organisms, originally independent organisms that evolution rendered capable of surviving only interdependently as functional members of cooperative gene communes, i.e. genomes.
D. The "researchers" compared TWO genomes,
one was the genome of a specific person, J.C. Venter, and the other was the genome "assembled" by Venter's Human Genome Project.
Compared with the "assembled" genome, in the genome of the specific person they found 706 places into which "transposable elements had stuffed extra DNA" while in the stuffing process recombinations between the mobile elements cut 140 chunks out.
In view of this they state: "The finding indicates that transposable elements are unexpectedly potent contributors to human genetic diversity..." and “We’re finding more and more variability than we would have predicted”...
Brilliant and exciting indeed...Life Science Marches On!
Dov Henis
(Comments From The 22nd Century)
Life's Manifest
http://www.the-scientist.com/community/posts/list/112.page#578
EVOLUTION Beyond Darwin 200
http://www.physforum.com/index.php?showtopic=14988&st=405&#entry396201
http://www.the-scientist.com/community/posts/list/100/122.page#1407
Greg Bear's book Darwin's Radio presaged some of this!
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