Genes that may hold key to human evolution identified

Dozens of genes, previously thought to have similar roles across different organisms, are in fact unique to humans and could help explain how our species evolved, scientists have found.

These genes code for a class of proteins known as transcription factors, or TFs, which control gene activity, according to researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada.

TFs recognise specific snippets of the DNA code called motifs, and use them as landing sites to bind the DNA and turn genes on or off.

Previous research had suggested that TFs which look similar across different organisms also bind similar motifs, even in species as diverse as fruit flies and humans.

However, a new study from Professor Timothy Hughes' lab, from the University of Toronto, shows that this is not always the case.

The researchers found a new computational method which allowed them to more accurately predict motif sequences each TF binds in many different species.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Genetics,