- Drosophila melanogaster gene mutation called Indy (I'm not dead yet) doubles the fruitfly life span from the usual 37 days to an average of 70 days. The Indy gene is 50% similar to a human gene called dicarboxylate cotransporter. In humans, dicarboxylate cotransporter proteins move preliminary products of food metabolism (dicarboxylic acids of the Krebs Cycle) across membranes to where the food's processing takes place. In mutant Indy flies, poor dicarboxylic acid pumping means that less metabolic energy can be gleaned from the fly's food. In essence, the Indy mutation is the genetic equivalent of caloric restriction, with the added advantage that Indy's caloric restriction does not involve the unpleasantness of starving. The Indy mutation in effect puts flies on a severe diet, while the flies eat as much as normal and lead a normal vigorous life-for far longer.
- The Drosophila transposon called Mariner intriguingly has got into the human genome and is responsible for a rare human neurological disorder called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, in which the muscles and nerves of the legs and feet gradually wither away. The Mariner transposon is inserted into a key gene called CMT on chromosome 17, creating a weak site where the chromosome can break.
Human chromosomes contain many segmental duplications, where whole blocks of genes have been copied over from one chromosome to another. Chromosome 19 seems to have been the biggest borrower, with blocks of genes shared with 16 other chromosomes.
DNA sequencing
1995: Venter, Fraser and Smith publish first sequence of free-living organism, a bacterium - Haemophilus influenzae (genome size of 1.8 Mb)
A rough draft for the human genome was published in 2003. Later in May 2006, Human Genome Project (HGP) researchers announced the completion of the DNA sequence for the entire human chromosomes.
