What does the genome tell us about being humans?

Question 1

why do we compare genomes?

Answer 1

By comparing genomes between individuals we can find out where differences occur.

Question 2

what are genome differences associated with?

Answer 2

• disease
• characteristics of an individual
• evolutionary history

Question 3

What could we learn about an organism if we compare its
genome with others?

Answer 3

• What sort of genes do they have
• How differences between species arise
• Relationships between species

Question 4

What does our Genome tell us about being human?

Answer 4

• By comparing our genome with animals that don’t do the things we do
• we might find where our genomes differ potentially the bits of DNA encoding our different biology

Question 5

why is it hard to compare human genomes with the genomes of animals?

Answer 5

• There are lots of differences
• We share many of our genes with other animals
• We don’t really know what most genes do

Question 6

how do we discover what is in common and what is different?

Answer 6

through comparative genome

Question 7

what is conserved?

Answer 7

things in common are called conserved and encodes biology in common between species

Question 8

how to compare sequence?

Answer 8

by lining them up next to each other and marking each point where sequences are the same

Question 9

what is aligning?

Answer 9

by lining them up next to each other and marking each point where sequences are the same

Question 10

DNA from dead things…

Answer 10

can remain in the environment

Question 11

how can we find the genome of close relatives

Answer 11

-DNA from dead things can remain in the environment
-DNA degrades and is masked by more modern DNA
-DNA bases are also modified as they degrade, sometimes changing the sequence.
-Ancient DNA can be extracted and identified in very special circumstances.
-It has been used to determine the relationships of extinct animals, like moa
and mammoths.

Question 12

how many Neanderthal nucleotides are there?

Answer 12

4 Billion

Question 13

how many individuals did they gather this sequence from

Answer 13

3 individuals

Question 14

important finds from Neanderthal DNA

Answer 14

-some of us carry Neanderthal DNA.
-Modern humans from Europe and Asia carry Neanderthal alleles.
-Those from Africa show no signs of these alleles.
-modern humans met Neanderthals, and they interbred.

Question 15

do people with neanderthal DNA have a different set of genes?

Answer 15

no, it means DNA holds variants that arose in Neanderthals.

Question 16

how much of the genome of non-Africans is made up of variants that arose in Neanderthals

Answer 16

2-4%

Question 17

what does Neanderthal DNA do?

Answer 17

it adds to the variation in our genome that might be related to our phenotype

Question 18

where was Denisova?

Answer 18

Denisova was a finger bone

Question 19

does the Denisova genome match?

Answer 19

no Denisova mitochondrial DNA doesn’t match Neanderthal or Modern Human DNA

Question 20

where was the genome of this species of archaic human found?

Answer 20

The genome from this species of archaic human was sequenced with a tooth found in the same cave in 2010

Question 21

is Denisovan variation found in the human genome?

Answer 21

Denisovan variation is also found in the human genome

Question 22

how much of the Denisovan variation is found in the human genome?

Answer 22

where it makes up 4-6% of the genomes of present-day Melanesians

Question 23

how do we understand where our characters come from?

Answer 23

By comparing whole genomes from multiple species we can start to understand where our characteristics come from.

Question 24

what does comparing genomes with other species do?

Answer 24

-help us identify variants that might be related to phenotype.
-help us identify variants related to the biology of an organism.