Scientists Found a Ghost Code Hidden in the Human Genome

You will learn this story while reading:

• Approximately 45 percent of human DNA consists of transposable elements or Tes that can be inadequate viruses, which scientists once believed to be “insignificant DNA”.

• However, this view is changing and a new study, which groups TES based on evolutionary relations and protection levels, plays a role in the gene expression of a Sekans family known as MER11.

• About 80 years after their first discoveries, scientists still find new things about how Tes still played a vital role in the primate evolution.

Swiss doctor Friedrich Miescher The first isolated DNA in 1869Science is on the way to an incredible genomic discovery. One of the biggest moments on the journey, in the 1940s, the cytogeneticist Barbara McClintock discovered transposable elements (te)Also known as “jump genes .. Nezly years later, the human genome project found that these elements were surprisingly 45 percent. human genomeAnd thanks to the “copy and paste” mechanism, it has managed to multiply for millions of years.

Since these series are extremely repetitive and almost the same, “Trivial DNA”Genetic residues from viruses that have not been drunk for decades. But in recent years, this ugly appearance of these series has started to change. Today, Scientists believe The genome function of TEs plays a role in chromosome evolution, species and diversity. However, because of their recurrent nature, TES is difficult to investigate.

Now, a new international study has found a new method to analyze these mysterious series and gene expression. Results of the study published in the journal Science progress.

Fumitaka Inoue, a joint writer of the study at Kyoto University, said, “Our genome was lined up a long time, but most of the parts of the parts are unknown.” In the press statement. Understanding Tes would solve one of the greatest mysteries of the genome.

In order to better understand TES, researchers have developed a new method to classify them. Avoiding the standard additional description tools, this study, based on both evolutionary relations and the quality of protection constitutes TES. primate genome. Focusing on a sequence family called MER11, the new method allowed scientists to divide them into sub -groups called Mer11_G1 to G4. The G1 subgroup represented the oldest evolutionary series, while the G4 included the smallest.

Looking at MER11 through this new lens, researchers were able to compare these new sub -families with epigenetic markers and found that these groups had a regulatory function within the genome. In other words, for gene expression, especially in early human development, they acted as opening-offensive switches.

Of course, the removal of a pattern is something, something else, to see it in action. For this reason, the team used a technique known as “Lentiviral Parallel Reporter Analysis” or Lentimpra to measure the 7.000 MER11 series using people. stem cells And early stage neural cells. This has shown that the smallest of the group (MER11_G4) has the most powerful effect on gene expression. According to the study, this group uses regulatory “motifs olan with short DNA summaries that affect gene development and response.

By following the evolution of this group, scientists have shown that DNA was initially inherited. viruses Primat can actively participate in the form and function of DNA. Although the journey of understanding the human genome is more than 150 years in production, it still has a remarkable ability to surprise us every time it seems.

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