Readers will recall that the ENCODE project, to study the human genome, is now looking at genomic similarities across species, including roundworms, flies, and humans.
One earlier finding, that there was not much junk DNA in the human genome (80% functional), provoked angry responses from some of Darwin’s followers, who accused it of being an “evolution-free gospel”, though the ENCODE researchers were not motivated by a desire to defend or oppose evolution. (Mega-rant here.) The researchers responded, pointing out that “However, the article by Graur et al. contains assumptions and statements that are questionable.
But the project ploughs ahead. According to The Scientist :
Researchers have long recognized genomic similarities across species. New results from the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) and model organism ENCODE (modENCODE) projects, published in a series of papers in Nature today (August 27), could support further comparative analysis; together, the projects have now added more than 1,600 data sets, bringing the total number of available ENCODE/modENCODE data sets to 3,300. In their respective papers, the teams behind each project also provide key cross-species comparisons of genome regulation in nematode (roundworm), fly, and human cells.
“What’s really striking about these papers is that they find ways in which we can map similarities in genomic function between key model organisms that are often used in lab research,” said geneticist William Bush of Case Western Reserve University in Ohio who was not involved with the studies. “They have built models of genomic function that span all of these organisms.”
Previously, most cross-species comparisons of genome regulation examined only a few sites in the genome, yielding mixed results. Some studies suggested that regulatory regions were strongly conserved, while others found greater diversity among the same locations. More.
Bet there’ll be many more surprises.
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