by Playfuls Staff |
1st August 2006
U.S. theoretical biologist Stephen Proulx is studying gene families to explore how genomes become diverse and evolve. [more]
The Iowa State University assistant professor uses mathematical tools and computer models to determine how environmental and evolutionary factors -- such as seasonal change, migration and sexual preference -- structure a genome.
One path to diversity in a genome involves the proliferation of genes into multi-gene families.
"The growth of a gene family can occur through rare errors in DNA replication," Proulx said. "Sometimes in error, a single gene is duplicated on a chromosome, and the duplicated copy can emerge as a new functional gene. Although that gene may have a new function, it's not fundamentally different from the original gene."
Proulx says he wants to be able to explain that process. "We also want to know if changing the size of gene families is a way by which an organism becomes more complex," he said.
His research, conducted with colleague Professor Patrick Phillips of the University of Oregon, was recently published in the journal Evolution.
© 2006 UPI
