DNA surprise in elephant sharks
 A
joint team from Singapore's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB)
and the United States-based J. Craig Venter Institute has found that
humans and the elephant shark share a surprising large amount of DNA
fragments.
This could have future implications for medical treatments, as DNA in
the human genome controls genes that
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A research team found that humans and the elephant shark share about
5,000 common DNA fragments which could have implications for the
medical treatment of humans.
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make proteins, which are involved in and crucial (very
important) to the body's development.
As disruptions in the control of these genes are believed to cause
many human diseases, scientists have been comparing the genome of
species like mouse and zebrafish with that of humans to better
understand how genes function.
The team started work on the odd-looking elephant shark, found in the
waters off New Zealand and southern Australia in 2005, as it shared an
ancestor with humans 500 million years ago. Genes still common between
the species can hold vital clues.
According to IMCB's lead researcher for the project, Associate
Professor Byrappa Venkatesh, the shark was found to share about 5,000
common DNA fragments with humans, double that of the zebrafish.
The results of this first phase of the study, where 75 per cent of
the shark genome has been sequenced (serialised) were published in the
journal Science. It will take up to another two years to sequence the
entire shark genome.
In the meantime, according to Prof. Venkatesh, IMCB researchers have
already started testing the shark genes that were identified, in a bid
to discover precisely what their functions are.
The Straits Times |
