All Articles Tagged As: positive selection

From mice to men, evidence of evolutionary selection is found in 544 genes in analysis going back 80 million years (9/18/2008)

By comparing the genomes of humans and five other mammals, Cornell researchers have identified 544 genes that have been shaped by positive selection over millions of years of evolution. ...> Full Article

Gene neighbors may have taken turns battling retroviruses (12/22/2007)

A cluster of antiviral genes in humans has likely battled retroviral invasions for millions of years. New research by Sara Sawyer, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in the Basic Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, now finds that in addition to the previously identified TRIM5 gene that can defend against retroviruses like HIV, a related gene right next door, called TRIM22, may have participated in antiviral defense. ...> Full Article

Genome study places modern humans in the evolutionary fast lane (12/14/2007)

Countering a common theory that human evolution has slowed to a crawl or even stopped in modern humans, a new study examining data from an international genomics project describes the past 40,000 years as a time of supercharged evolutionary change, driven by exponential population growth and cultural shifts. ...> Full Article