More EvoDevo evidence out:
<<Evolution:
Spineless Fish and Dark Flies Prove Gene Regulation Crucial
Elizabeth Pennisi
Almost 3 years ago, biologists got into a tussle over what drives morphological evolution: changes in the protein-coding portions of genes or changes in the DNA regions that regulate gene activity. At the time, some researchers felt there was little hard evidence to support the idea that regulatory changes were indeed important (Science, 8 August 2008, p. 760).
Now, on page 1663 and in last week's Science Express (www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1182213), two teams not only independently report that changes in regulatory DNA were responsible for an adaptation in natural populations of fish and insects, but each group has also pieced together details of the underlying genetic alterations in those animals. "They provide beautiful and convincing examples of how [certain] regulatory elements can be lost or modified to reduce [gene] expression, ultimately causing morphological change," says Hopi Hoekstra, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University and one of the chief skeptics.> -snip-
sciencemag.org
DAK |
