Researchers have discovered a stretch of "junk" DNA that may have contributed to humanity's evolution of opposable thumbs.
When genetically engineered into mice, the human DNA seems to activate genes in the budding wrist and thumb. Chimp and monkey versions, on the other hand, seem only capable of switching on genes in the developing shoulder [New Scientist].
In a new study, the research team
combed through the vast regions of human DNA that do not contain code for making proteins. Formerly dissed as “junk DNA,” sections of these non-gene regions are now known to play a regulatory role, dialing down or cranking up the activity of actual genes [Science News].
Researchers first found a long sequence of DNA that had barely changed during the entire evolution of backboned creatures, and then zeroed in on a smaller stretch of code that had accumulated 16 changes since the ancestors of humans and ...
