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"(Humans have about 20,000 protein-coding genes.)" "The researchers found 6,331 genes that were present in the common ancestor of all living animals." "But 1,
by sulam 8y ago
"(Humans have about 20,000 protein-coding genes.)"
"The researchers found 6,331 genes that were present in the common ancestor of all living animals."
"But 1,189 of the genes in the ancestral animal can’t be found in our closest known single-celled relatives."
So, 5142 genes are common between eukaryotes and prokaryotes, okay. But where is this 55% number coming from? This article is confusing.
- reubenswartz 8y agoProkaryotes and single celled eukaryotes are very, very different. Like a billion years of evolutionary history different, 4-5 orders of magnitude in size different, different chromosomal structure different, and lots of complex cellular machinery different.
- sulam 8y agoI conquered high school biology so this isn’t news. Can you explain their math?
- reubenswartz 8y agoNo, ha ha-- I had the same problem you did with the numbers. ;-)