Human gene number slashed

Human beings have far fewer genes than originally thought, a
consortium of scientists have claimed in Nature.

The researchers compared the draft human genome with the "gold
standard" version, published last year, to work out how they are different.

They found the most up-to-date human genome contains only 20,000 to
25,000 genes - which is about 10,000 less than indicated in the draft.

This suggests that gene regulation is far more important than gene
number.


"It means that each gene can be used in a variety of different ways
depending on how it is regulated," said Dr Tim Hubbard, of the Human
Genetics group at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK.

"The big thing is regulation."

Modest materials

Genes are the DNA templates that code for proteins, which then build and
maintain our bodies.

When the draft human genome was published in 2000, and researchers guessed
it contained between 30,000 and 40,000 genes, many people were surprised
that something as complex as the human body could be built with such modest
materials.

Now the gene number has been revised downwards even further, and scientists
suspect that the key to complexity lies not in the genes, but in the gaps
between them.

They are gradually discovering that the way genes are controlled - how, when
and where they are activated - is a magnificently important and intricate
process.

It is as if each gene were a Swiss army knife - they can do several jobs,
depending on how they are handled.

At the moment the puppet masters, the bits of DNA that control the genes,
are something of an enigma.

"There may be a whole lot of stuff in the genome that we just don't know how
to extract yet," said Dr Hubbard. "There is a big international
collaboration trying to find out what there is apart from protein coding
genes.

"The genome contains tiny regulatory sequences, and these little 'actors'
are important in the control system - but they are extremely hard to spot."

Full Text at BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3760766.stm

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek
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