Thursday, November 20, 2014

New view of mouse genome finds many similarities, striking differences with human genome

Link to the Article



A group of scientists that are a part of the Mouse ENCODE Project studying the mouse genome have not only found many similarities in the systems that control gene activity between humans and nice, but they have also found differences between these systems. They found that many of the similarities in these systems have been either conserved or continued through evolutionary time.  Through this research, they were able to discover a lot of information on just how the mouse genome works. The researches have found that some DNA sequence differences linked to human diseases also have counterparts in mice. The differences that were found appeared in specific tissue and cell types. It was found that although the mouse and human genomes have a common language during the regulatory process, there is a great amount in "flexibility in evolution".

This could be a huge determining factor in decided what exactly is tested for/on a mouse and what needs another test subject that is possibly closer to the human in ways the mouse is not. Although the genomes do have similarities, they still have a lot of differences which means some experiments that might work on mice won't necessarily work on the human genome.  This could effect how often mice are used when attempting to find cures or other medical discovers by first testing them on mice.

2 comments:

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  2. It is promising to connect the similarities between genetic sequences in both human and mice genome that affect each in the same manner. If a treatment is found to cure a mouse then this opens the door to a counterpart being developed for humans.

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