We Have Found the Rosetta Stone of DNA Expression

In 1975, biologists have found that the DNA sequence that can be directly compared between the genome of human and the genome of chimp is almost 99% identical. However, chimps look apparently different from chimps.

What would be the reason?

The answer would be: DNA is like functions in coding languages. Most of the living things have the same functions package, while they use different ways of calling and input different parameters. They could be switched on or switched off at any time, and they interact with each other in an extremely complicated way. Some genes will produce specific protein, and others carry instructions.

At present, Rob Phillips Physical Biology Laboratory has developed a new tool to find out how different genes regulate in bacteria.

When it comes to E. coli, it has been used as model organism in the field of biology and bioengineering, but only 35% of its gene regulation is clear to the researchers. Rob Phillips Physical Biology Laboratory has clarified more than 100 genes and their regulations that were not clear before. And it lays the foundation for decoding the other genes. 

Their research concerning the new tool and technology is published in eLife.

Just imagine, we are trying to learn a new language, and we cannot understand the meaning of the words and its grammar, even though they are sequences of 26 capitals as English. That’s similar to the challenge of modern genomics: it’s easy to sequence the genes of a living thing, but we know little about how different genes function and regulate, which is undoubtedly the most important part. Only if we figure out the meanings of words and the grammar of the new language can we try to write our own sentences.