Mar 31, 2008 9:21 pm US/Mountain
CSU Researchers Make Important Gene Discovery
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) ―
Researchers at Colorado State University say they may have discovered an important breakthrough in studying chronic diseases -- it involves genes. They say some genes they thought didn't matter now hold a key to our health.
Researchers have identified about 25,000 genes in human DNA, but it's generally believed than only about half are working at any given time. Now, new research shows that the other genes aren't actually off, or silent. Instead, they're whispering, which means they may hold important clues for improving our health.
Andre Ptitsyn with CSU Boimedical Sciences said when they began studying the genes of mice he discovered that all genes, not just the fraction previously thought, operate together in cycles.
Those cycles revealed that half of the genes, thought to be silent at any given time, are actually working quietly alongside genes that are louder; the genes research instruments can actually detect.
"They actually interact closely," Ptitsyn said. "They make a pair which works together. Except before, we didn't know it was there. We saw one half, but the other half was missing.
Ptitsyn said to imagine being in a room with a fan. Even with the noise from the fan, other sounds in the room can be heard. Those are the genes researchers can detect in a cell. If a few blocks away there's a marching band playing; that can't be heard because of the fan. The band instruments represent the silent genes, now found to be not-so-silent and all working together. But with the fan, the band can't be heard until one learns to tune out the noise. Those are the genes scientists haven't been able to hear, until now.
"Now we can see actually that they are not silent below the threshold," Ptitsyn said. "They are alive, they are active, and even coordinated."
Ptitsyn said the quiet genes could lead to answers about cancer and aging, to the effect of a new drug, or genetically altered food, will have on our bodies.
Ptitsyn said that just like with the idea of a marching band off in the distance, instruments, like genes, don't have to be loud to be important. He pointed out that, in the marching band, the conductor doesn't make any noise at all, even though that's what keeps everything running.
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