Changes in gene regulation have been used to study the evolutionary chasm that exists between humans and chimpanzees despite their largely identical DNA. However, scientists from the University of Chicago have discovered that mRNA expression levels, long considered a barometer for differences in gene regulation, often do not reflect differences in protein expression — and, therefore, biological function — between humans and chimpanzees.
“We thought that we knew how to identify patterns of mRNA expression level differences between humans and chimpanzees that would be good candidates to be of functional importance,” said Yoav Gilad, PhD, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Chicago. “Now we see that even such mRNA patterns are not translated to the protein level. Which means that it is unlikely that they can affect a functional phenotypic difference.”
Read the full, original story here: Gene Regulation Differences Between Humans, Chimpanzees Very Complex
