THE big surprise from the human genome project was that humans have 20,000 to 25,000 genes – only twice as many as fruit flies. But now a study has found a big genetic difference between humans and other animals: humans edit their genetic information far more extensively than other vertebrates. Could this explain our complex brains?
When a gene is read, its sequence is copied to an intermediate molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA), which is read in turn to make a protein. It is well known that during the process of making mRNA the cell snips out sequences that…
