In the third online OUASSA biology tutorial I introduced the idea\u00a0that a type of chromosomal\u00a0mutation known as gene duplication may be important in “providing evolution some spare genes to play with”.<\/p>\n
Many scientists think that gene duplications have contributed to some\u00a0evolutionary changes, from the evolution of antifreeze proteins in polar fish (http:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2011\/01\/110112122511.htm<\/a>), the divesification of a group of calcium binding polypeptides in vertebrates that are important in tooth and bone formation and production of milk and salivary proteins in mammals (http:\/\/www.frontiersinzoology.com\/content\/2\/1\/15<\/a>), to the evolution of true trichromatic colour vision\u00a0in African apes. (http:\/\/anthro.palomar.edu\/primate\/color.htm<\/a>; http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/10413401<\/a>).<\/p>\n A lovely example of the role of gene duplication in evolution for\u00a0Level 3\/Scholarship Biology\u00a0– that is truly relevant to us all in the widest possible sense\u00a0– can be found at http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/dn21777-the-humanity-switch-how-one-gene-made-us-brainier.html.<\/a>\u00a0 This article\u00a0tells the story of how\u00a0the repeated duplication of\u00a0a gene involved in neural development may have been involved in two major advances in brain cell organisation and thinking power that correlate with some big leaps forward in our own biological evolution.\u00a0 Enjoy!\u00a0 Darren.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the third online OUASSA biology tutorial I introduced the idea\u00a0that a type of chromosomal\u00a0mutation known as gene duplication may be important in “providing evolution some spare genes to play with”. Many scientists think that gene duplications have contributed to … Continue reading