- Mar 3, 2006
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Humans (23) have one Less chromosome pair than apes. (24)
Interestingly, we can see how what happened.
Two Ape Chromsomes merged, leaving one very large Human Chromo 2.
(An easily visible part of molecular vestigiality, and another OP/thread I will do)
In the meantime, an interesting development, and another evidence the amount of Chromos do Not equal the amount of complexity in the species.
Scientists Have Created A New Species Using Genetic Editing
Scientists Have Created A New Species Using Genetic Editing
CRISPR gene editing has just pulled off one of its most impressive feats yet. A team of scientists from China has managed to create a new species: a baker's yeast with just one mega-chromosome. Meanwhile, a group of American researchers has done the same thing using two chromosomes instead of one.
Why is this so cool? Well, this beer-making microorganism usually has 16 chromosomes. All of this genetic information is now squished into a single chromosome. The pioneering research could help explain why we, and other organisms, split our DNA across many different chromosomes. As this freak yeast shows, it doesn’t actually appear to make much difference if the DNA is in one chromosome or 16 chromosomes.
“That was the biggest shocker – that you can just get away with this and yeast seem to shrug its shoulders,” Jef Boeke, a geneticist at New York University who worked on the US project, told Nature News.
[.....]
Yeast is a type of eukaryote, a group that also includes humans, plants, and animals. Weirdly, the number of chromosomes a eukaryote has doesn’t seem to be associated with the amount of genetic information it contains or how “complex” the creature is. A carrot has 18 chromosomes, a kangaroo has 16, a carp has 100, a great White shark has 82, and an atlas blue butterfly has 450.
The fact that changing the number of chromosomes around doesn’t appear to change the action of the genes in them suggests that the number of chromosomes is simply a random Accident of evolution.
[.....]
“Beyond applications, this work sheds light on the wild trajectory of Accidental chromosome Duplications and Fusions across evolution that has left one ant species with a single pair of chromosomes, humans with 23 pairs, and one species of butterfly with 220," said Boeke.
"We are learning how One Species becomes Two."
`
Interestingly, we can see how what happened.
Two Ape Chromsomes merged, leaving one very large Human Chromo 2.
(An easily visible part of molecular vestigiality, and another OP/thread I will do)
In the meantime, an interesting development, and another evidence the amount of Chromos do Not equal the amount of complexity in the species.
Scientists Have Created A New Species Using Genetic Editing
Scientists Have Created A New Species Using Genetic Editing
CRISPR gene editing has just pulled off one of its most impressive feats yet. A team of scientists from China has managed to create a new species: a baker's yeast with just one mega-chromosome. Meanwhile, a group of American researchers has done the same thing using two chromosomes instead of one.
Why is this so cool? Well, this beer-making microorganism usually has 16 chromosomes. All of this genetic information is now squished into a single chromosome. The pioneering research could help explain why we, and other organisms, split our DNA across many different chromosomes. As this freak yeast shows, it doesn’t actually appear to make much difference if the DNA is in one chromosome or 16 chromosomes.
“That was the biggest shocker – that you can just get away with this and yeast seem to shrug its shoulders,” Jef Boeke, a geneticist at New York University who worked on the US project, told Nature News.
[.....]
Yeast is a type of eukaryote, a group that also includes humans, plants, and animals. Weirdly, the number of chromosomes a eukaryote has doesn’t seem to be associated with the amount of genetic information it contains or how “complex” the creature is. A carrot has 18 chromosomes, a kangaroo has 16, a carp has 100, a great White shark has 82, and an atlas blue butterfly has 450.
The fact that changing the number of chromosomes around doesn’t appear to change the action of the genes in them suggests that the number of chromosomes is simply a random Accident of evolution.
[.....]
“Beyond applications, this work sheds light on the wild trajectory of Accidental chromosome Duplications and Fusions across evolution that has left one ant species with a single pair of chromosomes, humans with 23 pairs, and one species of butterfly with 220," said Boeke.
"We are learning how One Species becomes Two."
`
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