14 DAY TRIAL // In its nearly 200 years of existence, Charles Darwin's theory on genetics, which states that parents pass on to their offspring the genes that best equip future generations for survival, has never been scientifically proven until now. Experts at the University of Leeds have recently been able to confirm one of the mechanisms governing genes, and, implicitly, the way our bodies and personalities develop since birth and into adulthood. The scientists say that some of the traits they've identified have evolved over centuries, PhysOrg informs.
According to the research team, the protein REST is one of the key elements that shape who and what we are. It has the ability to switch a large number of genes on and off, according to certain “specifications,” which are inscribed in our genetic code. Each of us inherits this code from our parents, who have it, in slightly different versions, from their parents, and so on. Essentially, REST controls the protein-formation process, which is also inscribed in the genetic material. Needless to say, any deficiencies in its production process, and the offspring might even die.
“This is the first study of the human genome to look at REST in such detail and compare the specific genes it regulates in different species. We’ve found that it works by binding to specific genetic sequences and repressing or enhancing the expression of genes associated with these sequences,” the lead researcher of the group, Dr. Ian Wood, from the UL Faculty of Biological Science, explains. “Scientists have believed for many years that differences in the way genes are expressed into functional proteins is what differentiates one species from another and drives evolutionary change – but no-one has been able to prove it until now.”
Additionally, the team shares, it has been revealed that REST plays a crucial part in the development of out intelligence, specifically by working closely together with a number of other proteins. The complex plays a paramount role in the development of the amazingly complex construct that is the human brain. REST has the highest prevalence in mammals, which may help explain why this class of animals has the largest cortex, and the highest adaptation and learning abilities.
“We were curious to look at REST and see what its functions are because it’s present in all vertebrates and it is also thought it may have a role to play in certain brain functions, such as levels of intelligence. It was a massive undertaking just to collate all the data required and put it into the right order before we could start any kind of analysis. Our research has not only completed some significant gaps in this knowledge, but has also explained some of the detail behind the process of natural selection, which Darwin correctly identified, but couldn’t explain,” Dr. Wood concludes.