The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
Men regain evolutionary drivers seat

Researchers from the University of Chicago have estimated that genetic mutations the raw material for evolution occur 5.25 times more often in males than in females. This discovery should lay to rest any doubts raised by recent studies questioning the dominant role males play in producing mutations for molecular evolution.

Their study, published in the April 11 issue of Nature, also shows that these mutations are caused mainly by random errors that occur during cell divisions rather than by environmental factors.

"Mutation is the ultimate source of variation," says Wen-Hsiung Li, Ph.D., the George Wells Beadle Distinguished Service Professor in the department of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago. "Your ancestors and my ancestors accumulated different mutations, which is part of the reason why you and I look different."

For more than half a century, scientists have believed the main source of new mutations is in the male germ line. But two recent studies one from the Whitehead Institute (2000) and the other from the International Human Genome Sequence Consortium (2001) suggest the male-female ratio of mutation rate or alpha is only about 2-to-1, a drastic decrease from earlier estimates. Li and co-investigator Kateryna Makova, Ph.D., research associate in the department of ecology and evolution, have restored the validity of a high alpha among humans and apes.

Li and Makova studied part of the DAZ locus, a non-coding genetic sequence present on chromosome 3 and the Y chromosome. The researchers found a low male-female mutation rate when they compared closely related species, which involved a shorter evolutionary time span. For example, when they looked at humans, pygmy chimpanzees and gorillas, they found that alpha is only 1.4, which suggests there is only a slightly higher mutation rate in males than in females.

But for distantly related species, which, according to Li, better represent the general tre
'"/>

Contact: Catherine Gianaro
cgianaro@uchospitals.edu
773-702-6241
University of Chicago Medical Center
10-Apr-2002


Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. In the obese, metabolic adaptations post-weight loss lead to regaining of shed pounds
2. Belgian researchers explore revolutionary approach to angiogenesis
3. Genetic analysis rewrites salamanders evolutionary history
4. Researchers review evolutionary history of modern algae
5. Insecticide resistance: A constraint on evolutionary change
6. Plant respiration not just an evolutionary leftover, study shows
7. New paper in Science introduces revolutionary new paradigm for fishery management
8. Sticklebacks reveal secrets to evolutionary change in Stanford study
9. Evo-devo biology tackles evolutionary historys unanswered questions
10. MBL scientists confirm evolutionary exception
11. New study finds evolutionary diversification in Hawaiian spiders
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: Men regain evolutionary drivers seat

(Date:11/19/2008)...2008 -- Ever since the ancient thinker Archimedes ...d the water spill out, scientist though the ages h... how fluids flow. Today, the field of fluid dynami...in modern astronomy, engineering, alternative ener...ientific meeting of the year devoted to the dynami...
(Date:11/19/2008)... gobbling a few extra treats this holiday season? ...tain your exercise routine and keep the pounds off... finger to keep track. , Researchers at the Univ...w cell phone applications, dubbed UbiFit and UbiGr...nsportation. The programs display motivational pic...
(Date:11/19/2008)...The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday awarded $6...rtnership at Montana State University to fund a pr...oxide into the sandstone rock layer beneath southw...final phase of federal funding for the Big Sky par... million of the federal money will stay on the MSU...
(Date:11/19/2008)...issue-engineered trachea (windpipe), utilising the...ransplanted into a young woman with a failing airw... the patient with a normally functioning airway, t...lts provide crucial new evidence that adult stem c...als, can offer genuine solutions to other serious ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Jupiter's shrinking red spot 2Jupiter's shrinking red spot 3Jupiter's shrinking red spot 4Jupiter's shrinking red spot 5Jupiter's shrinking red spot 6Jupiter's shrinking red spot 7Jupiter's shrinking red spot 8Jupiter's shrinking red spot 9Jupiter's shrinking red spot 10Track your fitness, environmental impact with new cell phone applications 2Track your fitness, environmental impact with new cell phone applications 3Montana State partnership receives $66.9M for carbon sequestration 2Montana State partnership receives $66.9M for carbon sequestration 3Adult stem cell breakthrough 2Adult stem cell breakthrough 3Green Tea Mushroom Extract Combo Slows Sarcomas 16302 1Green Tea Mushroom Extract Combo Slows Sarcomas 16302 2Award winning study says back pain may be in your genes 16297 1Award winning study says back pain may be in your genes 16297 2Increasing positive experiences decreases depression symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis 16292 1Increasing positive experiences decreases depression symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis 16292 2Cardinal Health to Announce Third Quarter Results on May 1 16289 1Cardinal Health to Announce Third Quarter Results on May 1 16289 2Cardinal Health to Announce Third Quarter Results on May 1 16289 3
Other News:
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The first published study on the environmental impact of manufactured nanoparticles on ordinary soil showed no negative effects, which is contrary to concerns voiced by some th
...remote area of the Amazon, globalization is threat...edge from generation to generation, with adverse e...el study published online this week in the Proceed...ers report that parents, and especially mothers, w...
DURHAM, N.C. -- Geneticists have discovered a new gene that may put individuals at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. ... The identification of the gene, called kalirin, implicates a bi
...chChannel is helping to document the important wor...ork to millions through its television and Interne...Program will provide funding to produce videos on ... accredited universities and nonprofit research in...
Test finds manufactured nanoparticles don't harm soil ecology 2Test finds manufactured nanoparticles don't harm soil ecology 3Mother knows best: Plant knowledge key to childhood health in remote Amazon 2Tiny clue reveals new path toward heart disease 2Tiny clue reveals new path toward heart disease 3
...loba in treating tinnitus: double blind, placebo c...inkgo biloba is no better than a placebo in treati...ults of the largest trial of Ginkgo biloba for tre...ers at the University of Birmingham identified 1,1...
... issue of AAPS PharmSci represents a broad spectru... pharmacogenomics; including the potential economi...l and academic research institutions in the pharma...ences, the University of Washington, Ohio State Un...
...s are one step closer to reversing brain and spina...cule in a pathway that prevents axon regeneration,...D., who holds the Vincent Coates Chair of neurolog... neurobiology at Yale School of Medicine, said he ...
...n for Scientific Research, NWO has announced the n...n NWO/SPINOZA Award for 2000. Each laureate will r...n of their exceptional contribution to science. Th...ns will hand the awards in The Hague on january 30...
health news:Yale researcher finds new clue to what blocks nerve fibers from regrowing following spinal cord injury or disease 2health news:"Dutch Nobel Prize" for three researchers 2health news:"Dutch Nobel Prize" for three researchers 3health news:"Dutch Nobel Prize" for three researchers 4
...RCHASE, NY, June 4, 2007 Nutrition 21, Inc. (NASD...om a 447 subject, randomized, double-blind, placeb... a patented combination of chromium picolinate and...n patients with poorly controlled blood sugar leve...
...iversity of Leeds scientists have shown how stroke...sease years or even decades after making a full r...he two conditions were linked, but now the Leeds t... the brain caused by the stroke can leave the pa...
...icago, Il., June 5, 2007 -- Researchers at the Uni...ed specific molecular markers that may help to pre...ncer patients.... The findings may also help ident...kely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy followi...
(TOKYO, JAPAN and PRINCETON, NJ, JUNE 5, 2007) Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd., and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accept
health news:Study shows Diachrome improves blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes 2health news:Study shows Diachrome improves blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes 3health news:Explaining a link between strokes and Alzheimer's 2health news:USC researchers show that molecular markers predict tumor recurrence 2