Towards the practical solution of a genetic puzzle

Tuesday, March 14th 2006

Humans and chimps share about 99% of the same DNA, so why are the two species profoundly different?

Scientists from WEHI, in collaboration with researchers from Yale University and the University of Chicago, believe they may have found the practical answer.

Back in 1975, it was theorized by Marie-Claire King and Allan Wilson from the University of California at Berkeley that differential gene expression could explain the radical differences between beings that are so genetically similar.

Research with new technology in the lab does indeed suggest that different gene regulation and expression, rather than simply the genetic sequences themselves, may account for many of the differences between humans and chimps.

In simple terms, imagine that the genomes of humans and chimps are piano keyboards. Although the keyboards are extremely similar, the music produced by each keyboard will differ dramatically depending upon which keys are actually played. The piano keys (or genes) that are played (or expressed) will produce very different sounds (or beings).

Using innovative gene array technology, the degree of gene expression was measured accurately, providing the practical confirmation of the thirty-one year old theory of differential gene expression.

One of the researchers, Dr Yoav Gilad from the University of Chicago, speculates that one reason for the evolutionary divergence in gene expression between humans and other primates may have been the human preference for cooked food. “Perhaps something in the cooking process altered the biochemical requirements for maximal access to nutrients as well as the need to process the natural toxins found in plant and animal foods,” he told Medical News Today.

The research findings were published in the 9 March 2006 issue of the prestigious international journal, Nature.

Authors of the paper were Yoav Gilad from the University of Chicago; Kevin White from Yale; and Alicia Oshlack, Gordon Smyth and Terry Speed from WEHI.

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