Size does matter, but with the help of evolution, scientists say otherwise

At Aarhus University, a group of researchers come to understand that if a protein-coding gene is too short it is rendered inactive. They have revealed that a gene’s activity is dependent on the space between the start and the end of the gene. The output of this gene lowered if the distance between the start and end is too short. Genes like replication-dependent histone genes are extremely short, but they contain specialized terminators that prevent the gene from being slowed down. This shows that naturally short genes have adapted by evolving into these specialized terminators for better gene expression completely bypassing their size limitations.