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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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100M-Year-Old DNA Regions Baffle Experts

Mice, humans share mysterious code immune to evolution

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(Newser) – Certain regions of mammalian DNA with no discernible purpose have one perplexing characteristic in common: They have survived, without mutation, for as long as 100 million years, LiveScience reports. Scientists speculate that the areas have some deep purpose, but for now they know only that they are “ultraconserved regions,” some 300 times less likely to mutate than other parts of the genome.

Scientists engineered mice DNA to lack certain of the regions, with no evident decrease in health or genetic change. Further investigation showed an almost perfect correlation in the regions on the genes of mice, dogs, and humans, suggesting they were being actively conserved for some reason. “Imagine that these regions somehow protect you from a disease that only strikes the population every once in a while,” hazarded one scientist.

A DNA sequencing machine.
A DNA sequencing machine.   (AP Photo)
A mouse.
A mouse.   (AP Photo)
A DNA model.
A DNA model.   (Getty Images)
A DNA image.
A DNA image.   (©MASH DnArt)
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The resounding answer from our paper is that [regions] seem to have an effect that is strong enough that evolution would weed [individuals without the regions] out of an evolving population. - Gill Bejerano, Stanford University

Imagine that these regions somehow protect you from a disease...Once every 10,000 years you have this cleansing event, and only those with the region would actually stick around. That's one guess. - Gill Bejerano, Stanford University

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