FRANCE: Humans may have evolved with genes acquired from plants, micro-organisms and fungi, according to a study.
The mechanism by which genes spread is a process known as horizontal gene transfer (HGT). It occurs in a number of ways, including through the introduction of foreign genetic material and the transfer of DNA between bacteria by a virus.
Latest research from the University of Cambridge suggests that this practice was much more widespread than previously thought, and may have contributed to the evolution of all animals.
Researchers found that many animals, including humans, carried “foreign” genes from micro-organisms co-habiting in their environment in ancient times, as opposed to genes solely passed down through ancestral lines. They now accept that up to one per cent of the human genome could have been transferred from plants and other sources.
The findings confirm the conclusions of a 2001 study which suggested that humans might have evolved with genes acquired from plants but had much less data available to analyse.
Alastair Crisp, a research associate at the university’s chemical engineering and biotechnology department and the lead author, said: “It changes how we think about the evolutionary tree. It’s not just this straightforward single branching tree like you see in your garden in which one branch leads on to another, it’s more like a strangled fig in which the branches are growing into each other.”
He said it was not known how the transfers happened. The study was published in Genome Biology.
Tesla driverless system to use updated radar technology
WASHINGTON: Electric carmaker Tesla announced Sunday it was upgrading its Autopilot software to use more advanced radar technology. In a...
