Researcher Publishes Book on Genetic Research and Evolution

Newswise — Scientist Norman Johnson of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has written the first book for general audiences examining what biologists can learn about evolution by studying DNA sequences. The book will be available in July from the Oxford University Press. "Darwinian Detectives: Revisiting the Natural History of Genes and Genomes," shows how genetic research is providing insights into important topics like human evolution, avian flu and the evolution of antibiotic resistance. At the same time, Johnson applies the principles of natural history to interpret some of the newest genome research.

For centuries, natural historians have collected live specimens to study how they change and diversify over time. Recently, this field has been overshadowed by molecular biologists sequencing the genomes of everything from salamanders and bacteria to humans, often with surprising results.

Johnson's book bridges the gap between the two disciplines and addresses some of the questions raised by molecular biology. Why do closely related organisms differ greatly in the size of their genomes? What genetic changes occurred as humans evolved? How do viruses and bacteria co-evolve with humans?

"My book gives you the idea that evolutionary biology is real science that can be applied to our lives," says Johnson, adjunct assistant research professor in the UMass Amherst department of plant, soil and insect sciences. "It can also give us information about other plants and animals that we deal with."

Johnson's favorite chapter presents recent research on the Chimpanzee genome. "The DNA of humans and chimps differs slightly, but key genes controlling brain development, immune defense, cell division and cell death have been accelerated in humans," says Johnson.

One of these accelerated genes plays a role in language development. Genome studies show that FOXP2, a gene that regulates the action of numerous genes by producing a transcription factor, has undergone two important changes on the evolutionary path from chimpanzees to humans. The gene changed once on the evolutionary path between mice and chimpanzees. "FOXP2 has definitely been accelerated in humans and involved in language development," says Johnson.

Additional chapters address recent research into the dog genome, the question of genome size, recent work on avian flu and whether Neanderthals are a subspecies of humans or a separate species.

"In the last 15 to 20 years, there has been a synthesis of evolutionary biology and developmental genetics," says Johnson. "I wanted to make new findings in this field accessible to the general public."