Intelligence: orphan genes (Origins)

by David Turell , Tuesday, March 05, 2013, 01:27 (4279 days ago) @ David Turell

This new discovery may be the hidden mechanism that advances evolution. It has been assumed that when genomes were sequenced it would show a genome tree of life. It doesn't. About one-third of genes appear de novo and seem to drive innovation:-"NOT having any family is tough. Often
unappreciated and uncomfortably
different, orphans have to fight to fit
in and battle against the odds to realise their
potential. Those who succeed, from Aristotle
to Steve Jobs, sometimes change the world.
Who would have thought that our DNA
plays host to a similar cast of foundlings?
When biologists began sequencing genomes,
they discovered that up to a third of genes
in each species seemed to have no parents
or family of any kind. Nevertheless, some
of these "orphan genes" are high achievers,
and a few even seem have played a part in
the evolution of the human brain. But where do they come from? With no
obvious ancestry, it was as if these genes had
appeared from nowhere, but that couldn't be
true. Everyone assumed that as we learned
more, we would discover what had happened
to their families. But we haven't ... quite the
opposite, in fact."-http://ccsb.dfci.harvard.edu/web/export/sites/default/ccsb/publications/papers/2013/All_alone_-_Helen_Pilcher_New_Scientist_Jan_2013.pdf