New genetic research has revealed the existence of certain regions in the human genome that have changed or mutated more rapidly than most others, resulting in differences that make us human among our primate cousins.
By using the latest sequencing and bioinformatics tools, scientists at the Gadstone Institutes were able to identify certain genomic regions that guide the development of human-specific characteristics.
“In this study, we found stretches of DNA that evolved much more quickly than others. We believe that these fast-evolving stretches were crucial to our human ancestors becoming distinct from our closest primate relatives,” said Gladstone Laboratory Investigator Katherine Pollard, who is also a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF’s) Institute for Human Genetics.
Read the full, original story here: Genetic Study Reveals New Insight into Origins of Our Species
