APRIL 1, 2016
by Chuck Bednar
A new effort to sequence the gorilla
genome has filled in many of the gaps from the first attempt to map the
primate's DNA while revealing that they may be more closely related to humans
than previously believed, according to research published Friday in the
journal Science.
University of Washington professor of genome
sciences Evan Eichler and his colleagues used an 11-year-old Western lowland
gorilla named Susie as the subject for their sequencing efforts, and found that
human and gorilla genomes diverge by just 1.6 percent, Reuters reported on Thursday. Only bonobos and chimpanzees
are more closely related to humans, they added.
Among the area of genetic divergence are
the immune and reproductive systems, the areas that control sensory perception,
those governing the production of the protein keratin (which is used by the
body to build hair, skin and fingernails) and those that regulate insulin.
Their research has also resulted in the discovery of thousands of new protein and
peptide-encoding segments.
The differences between the species “may
aid researchers in identifying regions of the human genome that are associated
with higher cognition, complex language, behavior and neurological diseases,”
study author Christopher Hill, a genetic researcher at UW, told the news
agency.
Study could shed new light on
evolutionary history of gorillas, humans
The sequencing effort is part of the
university’s efforts to compile a comprehensive catalog of genetic differences
between humans and all of the great apes, including gorillas, orangutans and
chimpanzees, Reuters said. A blood sample from Susie, who now lives at the
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio , was taken
when she was at Chicago
Eichler, Hill and their fellow researchers
used Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) technology and the assembly tools Falcon
and QUIVER as part of their sequencing attempts. In a statement, they explained that these methods allowed them to
generate long sequence reads more than 100 times the length of many other,
commonly used technologies.
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