CHICAGO, July 6. Careful analysis of the mammoth genome scientists showed changes in genes that allowed these members of the family of elephant to survive at low temperatures of the last glacial period. This discovery is one step closer to the science of technical possibility to return to the planet of extinct animals.
Vincent Lynch of the University of Chicago and his colleagues conducted a deep sequencing of genomes of two of three mammoths and Asian elephants – mammoths next of kin. All genomes are compared with each other and with the genome of the African elephant (representative of a kind of distant).
Geneticists have identified about 1.4 million gene variants that are unique to mammoths, reports Lenta.ru. These options changed proteins produced about 1,600 genes. The researchers then turned to massive databases – to assess the function of genes and their influence on the life of the body.
It was found that the characteristic changes in the mammoth genes were the closest associated with the metabolism of fats (including brown fat), insulin signaling, hair growth and development of the skin (including genes associated with lighter hair), sensation of temperature and circadian rhythm. All these properties of the organism have been important to adapt to the extreme cold and the polar night. Finally, researchers have identified the genes that determine the anatomical features of mammoths (shape of the skull, small ears and short tails).
Of particular interest to the researchers is the group of genes responsible for the sensation of temperature, which also play an important role in hair growth, and the storing of fat. The scientists were able to reconstruct the ancient version of one of these genes (TRPV3). When transplanting it into human cells proved that TRPV3 mammoth produces a protein that reacts to heat is weaker than the one that is encoded version of the elephant TRPV3. Similarly, laboratory mice, in which the body has been disconnected TRPV3 artificially prefer cold rooms, and their hair is more wavy.
Although the functions of the genes identified by the scientists generally well correlated with environmental conditions of mammoths, Lynch warns that only one genome is impossible to determine what exactly influenced a particular gene.
“We can not know exactly about the action of these genes as someone resurrect live mammoth. However, about something you can guess by laboratory experiments,” – said the scientist. Now, Lynch and his colleagues plan to express the proteins in the cells of mammoth elephants.
While the goal is to study Lynch molecular basis of evolution, genetics recognizes that high quality sequencing and analysis of the genome of the mammoth could be the basis for the “resurrection” of ancient animals.
“Over time, we get the technical capability to do it. But another question: whether it is necessary to carry out such a thing? Personally, I think not. The mammoths died out, and the environment in which they live has changed. There are a lot of animals on the verge of extinction, requiring our help “- he concluded the geneticist.
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