Recent scientific discoveries point to the fact that exons, tiny bits and fragments of DNA, play a significant role in gene regulation processes. Scientists believe that these portions of DNA strand could very well be what separates us from primates, in terms of abilities and skills. After 15 years in which they eluded scientific explanations, exons finally revealed their secrets to researchers at Iowa University.
 

Exons come from Alu elements, which are retrotransposons. Transposons are fragments of repetitive DNA, which usually make up for about 10 percent of the total human genome. Yi Xing, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and bio-mechanical engineering at both the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and the UI College of Engineering, said "Alu elements are a major source of new exons. Because Alu is a primate-specific retrotransposon, creation of new exons from Alu may contribute to unique traits of primates, so we want to better understand this process."
 

Research into the effects of exons concluded that these small particles could have the potential to develop human traits in monkeys and macaque. This is an amazing discovery, as primates and humans are believed to have diverged evolutionary millions of years ago. By comparing exon data from both species, researchers found certain similarities in the way the particles influenced gene expression.
 

In order to be able to study these DNA fragments, Xing and colleagues used a high-density exon microarray, which helped them probe the depths of 11 genomes for about 330 Alu-derived exons. Some of these particles, the team announces, have interesting functions and roles, which are to be fully determined in future research.
 

This discovery could open up new ways of looking at the human genome in general, and at the ways that people and primates evolved, secondarily. Careful analysis of DNA strands could provide scientists and evolutionary biologists with the answer they seek as to how exactly the separation between the two species occurred and why.