New Gene Principle Changes The Rules

Researchers are rewriting the rules for human genetics, and their findings have medical implications for conditions ranging from diabetes to cancer to heart disease.Going out the window is the untouchable “one gene-one protein” rule, which said that a single gene makes only one protein. It’s gone because of the discovery of a process called alternative splicing, in which a single gene can make many different proteins.A protein is a chain of molecules called amino acids. Genes carry the code for production of those amino acids, which are strung together to form the proteins that not only form the body’s structure but also carry out the biochemical processes necessary for life.Alternative splicing means that a gene does not produce a single chain of amino acids. Instead, it can produce a number of subchains that can be linked in different ways to form different proteins.That discovery has helped solved one of the biggest puzzles about the human genome -- why people have so few genes.

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