Ask a Scientist January 21, 2007

This month's topic: Gene Regulation and You

Before the human genome project was completed, the best estimates were that humans had at least 100,000 genes. But after the genome was sequenced, that number fell to about 30,000. That doesn't exactly sound like enough to account for all of the different cells and proteins that make up our bodies. Furthermore, if humans and chimpanzees share a nearly identical genome, as we've all heard, how is it that we're such different creatures? The answer lies partly in gene regulation — the "switching on and off" of an organism's genes in early development and throughout its life. So it turns out that the source of the differences between us and chimps (and flies and mice and worms et al.) lies not only in the differences between our genomes, but in how our genes are used. Pretty interesting. Mike Eisen will tell us more.

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