In a new research study, stem cell scientists at Lund examined what it remains in our DNA that makes human and chimpanzee brains different– and they have actually discovered answers.
” Instead of studying living chimpanzees and humans, we used stem cells grown in a laboratory. The stem cells were reprogrammed from skin cells by our partners in Germany, the USA and Japan. We examined the stem cells that we had actually developed into brain cells,” discusses Johan Jakobsson, professor of neuroscience at Lund University, who led the study.
Using the stem cells, the scientists particularly grew brain cells from human beings and chimpanzees and compared the 2 cell types. The researchers then found that human beings and chimpanzees utilize a part of their DNA in different methods, which appears to play a considerable role in the advancement of our brains.
” The part of our DNA recognized as various was unforeseen. It was a so-called structural variant of DNA that were formerly called “scrap DNA,” a long repeated DNA string which has long been deemed to have no function. Previously, researchers have looked for answers in the part of the DNA where the protein-producing genes are– which just comprises about two percent of our entire DNA– and took a look at the proteins themselves to find examples of distinctions.”.
The new findings hence suggest that the distinctions appear to lie outside the protein-coding genes in what has actually been labeled as “scrap DNA,” which was believed to have no function and which makes up the bulk of our DNA..
” This recommends that the basis for the human brains evolution are genetic systems that are most likely a lot more intricate than formerly believed, as it was supposed that the answer remained in those two percent of the hereditary DNA. Our results indicate that what has been substantial for the brains advancement is instead perhaps concealed in the overlooked 98 percent, which seems essential. This is an unexpected finding.”.
The stem cell method used by the researchers in Lund is advanced and has allowed this kind of research study. The technique was acknowledged by the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. It was the Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka who discovered that specialized cells can be reprogrammed and become all types of body tissue. And in the Lund researchers case, into brain cells. Without this method, it would not have been possible to study the distinctions in between people and chimpanzees utilizing ethically defensible approaches.
Why did the researchers want to investigate the distinction in between people and chimpanzees?
” I believe that the brain is the key to comprehending what it is that makes human beings human. How did it come about that human beings can utilize their brain in such a way that they can build societies, inform their children and establish innovative innovation? It is interesting!”.
Johan Jakobsson believes that in the future the new findings may likewise contribute to genetically-based answers to questions about psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, a disorder that seems unique to people.
” But there is a long way to precede we reach that point, as instead of performing even more research on the two percent of coded DNA, we might now be required to dive deeper into all 100 percent– a substantially more complex task for research study,” he concludes.
Reference: “A cis-acting structural variation at the ZNF558 locus controls a gene regulative network in human brain development” by Pia A. Johansson, Per Ludvik Brattås, Christopher H. Douse, PingHsun Hsieh, Anita Adami, Julien Pontis, Daniela Grassi, Raquel Garza, Edoardo Sozzi, Rodrigo Cataldo, Marie E. Jönsson, Diahann A.M. Atacho, Karolina Pircs, Feride Eren, Yogita Sharma, Jenny Johansson, Alessandro Fiorenzano, Malin Parmar, Malin Fex, Didier Trono, Evan E. Eichler and Johan Jakobsson, 7 October 2021, Cell Stem Cell.DOI: 10.1016/ j.stem.2021.09.008.
Our DNA is extremely comparable to that of the chimpanzee, which in evolutionary terms is our closest living relative. Stem cell scientists at Lund University in Sweden have actually now found a previously neglected part of our DNA, so-called non-coded DNA, that appears to add to a distinction which, in spite of all our similarities, might discuss why our brains work in a different way. The research study is released in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
The chimpanzee is our closest living relative in evolutionary terms and research suggests our kinship originates from a common forefather. About 5 to 6 million years ago, our evolutionary paths separated, resulting in the chimpanzee these days, and Homo Sapiens, humankind in the 21st century..
The research study is released in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
” Instead of studying living people and chimpanzees, we used stem cells grown in a laboratory. The stem cells were reprogrammed from skin cells by our partners in Germany, the USA and Japan. We analyzed the stem cells that we had actually developed into brain cells,” describes Johan Jakobsson, professor of neuroscience at Lund University, who led the research study.
It was a so-called structural variant of DNA that were formerly called “junk DNA,” a long recurring DNA string which has actually long been considered to have no function.
