In the genes related to growth, scientists have seen the dawn of human history

A new study delved into the evolution and function of the human growth hormone receptor gene, and asked which forces in the past may have caused the changes in this vital piece of DNA

This research shows in a variety of ways that a shortened version of the gene: a variant called GHRd3 may help people survive under resource-poor or unpredictable conditions

The research results will be published in the September 24th issue of "Science Advances" (Science Advances)

This study tells us: GHRd3 appeared about 1-2 million years ago, and it is likely to be the dominant version in the genes of modern human ancestors and Neanderthals and Denisovans

Then, "In the past 50,000 years or so, this variant has become less common, and you have a huge reduction in the frequency of variants in East Asian populations.

This research provides new insights into the function of GHRd3, which may help explain the reasons for these evolutionary changes and prove that this variation may help cope with nutritional stress

Dr.

"GHRd3 is interesting because it is a very common deletion that is variable between you and humans," said Dr.

This work was led by Saito; Dr.

Take a closer look at the possible functions of GHRd3

The growth hormone receptor gene plays an important role in controlling the body's response to growth hormone, helping to activate the process leading to growth

In order to study the evolutionary history of this gene, scientists have studied the genomes of many modern humans, as well as the genomes of four ancient humans-three Neanderthals from all over the world and one Denisovan

The research team also studied the modern functions of GHRd3

In addition, research on rats also supports the view that GHRd3 helps regulate the body’s response to food shortages

When the scientists fed male mice containing GHRd3 with low-calorie food, the mice were smaller than mice without this genetic variant at two months of age
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This may be beneficial when nutrition is stressful, because the smaller body needs less food
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Since GHRd3 has no significant effect on female mice, male mice carrying this gene variant and female mice on a low-calorie diet will have the same final body size (usually, male mice are better than female mice).
Much larger)
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"Our research points to the specific effects of a common genetic variant on gender and environment
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In mice, we have observed that in calorie-restricted male livers, Ghrd3 leads to a'feminine-like' expression pattern of dozens of genes , This may lead to the observed size reduction,” Saitou said
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"Females who are inherently small in size may suffer negative evolutionary consequences if they lose weight
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Therefore, this is a reasonable and very interesting hypothesis that a genetic mutation that may affect the response to nutritional stress has already Specific gender patterns evolve," Mu said
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Resendes said: "Although this unique gene deletion is common in humans, it has not been observed in any other species
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" This makes learning difficult
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However, current scientific advances allow us to edit the genome in a targeted way
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This allows us to generate mouse models that contain this deletion so that we can closely observe its effects in a controlled manner
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Gokcumen said: "This is an exciting time to study human evolution.
It is now possible to integrate data from ancient genomes, gene editing techniques and advanced mathematical methods to tell all the chaotic splendor of human history
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"