Evolution of regulatory sequences and systems

广泛的基因组测序表明，来自相关物种的基因通常非常相似，即使物种的外观和行为非常不同。在一个著名的例子中，人类和黑猩猩的基因被证明非常相似，但这两个物种却截然不同。在解释基因和分子水平上的巨大相似性与日常生物学特征的巨大差异之间的明显矛盾时，研究人员发现，基因开启的时间和地点（“调节”）以及基因如何协同工作（“基因网络”）的差异有时会导致物种之间的生物学差异。我们正在测试自然选择影响基因调控和网络变化的证据。我们的假设是，大多数变化实际上是遗传漂变（一种随机进化过程）的结果，而不是自然选择的结果。大多数测试自然选择的技术都是针对基因设计的，所以我们正在开发针对调控和基因网络设计的新测试。如果我们能发现一些变化是自然选择的结果，这将有助于理解进化是如何工作的。此外，如果我们能发现哪些特定的变化是由自然选择引起的，我们就能了解哪些生物特征对不同物种的进化是重要的，哪些生物过程是通过进化得到改善的。这将帮助我们了解基因中的什么（如果有的话）使我们成为人类（而不是黑猩猩！）

Extensive genome sequencing has revealed that genes from related species are usually quite similar, even when the species' appearance and behavior is quite different. In a famous example, human and chimpanzee genes turned out to be very similar, yet the two species are very different. In explanation of this apparent contradiction between the great similarity at the genetic and molecular level and great difference in the everyday biological characteristics, researchers have found that differences in the times and places that genes are turned on ("regulation") and how genes work together ("gene networks") can sometimes lead to the biological differences between species.We are testing for evidence of natural selection affecting the changes in genes' regulation and networks. Our hypothesis is that most of the changes are actually the result of genetic drift (a random evolutionary process) rather than natural selection. Most of the techniques to test for natural selection were designed for genes, so we are developing new tests designed for regulation and gene networks.If we can find that some of the changes were the result of natural selection, this would help understand how evolution works. Also, if we could find which specific changes were caused by natural selection we would be able to understand which biological characteristics were important for the evolution of different species, and which biological process are being improved by evolution. This would help us know what (if anything) in our genes makes us humans (and not chimpanzees instead!)