Humans and mice share a ‘language’ in its genome … – RTVE

RTVE.es / EFE

The humans and mice have a common <'language' / strong> in your genome that allow to study the origin of diseases Common, although the evolution of DNA and expression gene of the two species were very different. This follows an investigation by the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona that the Nature published Thursday.

The investigation of the CRG, led by Roderic Guigó and made collaboration with the group led by Dr. Thomas R. Gingeras, Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory in the US, has made an exhaustive description of the functional elements of the genome of mice and compared with the human genome .

According Guigó, the comparison between human and mouse “offers a better understanding of the biology of mammals and developments as well as providing new information on the use mice as an animal model for studying human disease. “

The paper finds keys that may explain why some processes and systems in mice, and the immune system, metabolism and stress response are so different when it comes to humans.

In comparing the functional parts of the mouse genome and human have emerged a set of data now available to the scientific community, which, according to researchers, will be relevant to research in mammalogy and study the mechanisms of human disease .

Studies “precise” in human biology

After examining the genetic and biochemical processes that regulate genome activity in humans and mice, scientists have found that, in general, the systems used to control genome activity are very similar in both species and that have been preserved over time.

also detected differences in DNA and gene expression patterns that are not shared .

“The mouse is one of the most used to study human biology, for modeling human diseases and to test new drugs and therapies models. Our study validates in much of the utility of this animal model and offer strong support for use in human disease, “said Guigó.

” We found that there are many cellular processes that are highly conserved in both species , for example in embryonic development. Understanding these similarities allow us to make more precise studies of human biology “added Guigó, who is the coordinator of the Bioinformatics and Genomics program CRG.

Common Elements on the instructions of the genes

Researchers have compared various processes involved in gene expression and gene transcription or chromatin modification and have done so in various tissues and cell types, both humans and mice .

According to Alessandra Breschi, co-author of the CRG, in his laboratory participated in the analysis of the whole transcriptome RNA or , which is the result of transcription, the process whereby instructions from the genes are read. ” He said Breschi- have discovered that the transcriptome in human and mouse have conserved and divergent elements other.

Surprisingly we found that the differences are greater between species between tissues, as initially thought that the activity of genes in the same tissue would be similar. “

Researchers have explained that, when comparing the two genomes, have found that is a” language “commonly used by cells at the molecular level , but it is extremely flexible and has varied greatly throughout evolution.

” For example, if we speak of circuits we find that there cables, plugs, switches. Combining the pieces in one way or another, we get very different circuits, such as between mice and humans, although the basic mechanisms governing the operation are based on the same methodology and resources, “he concluded Guigó .