Fly in our genes?

1996/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Genetika

Some of you will remember that in the film “Eulia” the scientist suffered a strange metamorphosis: the protagonist to whom the fly’s DNA was stuck on the chromosomes and, by surprise, becomes a fly. Of course, this incredible transformation is science fiction: at the moment it has not been possible to convert man into fly, but a group of biologists has made a surprising discovery. He has not found fly-shaped beings, but he has found remains of flies in the human genome. According to these researchers, mariner, the DNA part of the vinegar fly, has reached the chromosomes of man and has already affected the nervous system.

According to the data that have been made known so far, the portion of DNA, called mariner, can pass from the species to the species, to the primates and, apparently, to the human being. According to biologists, when the mariner enters the new species, it starts jumping into the genes without stopping. After agitation, the DNA fragment relaxes and it is almost impossible to find it standing. What biologists have discovered in humans is therefore a part of DNA that still endures.

During the study of neurological disease Charcot-Marie-Tooth, the fingerprint of the vinegar fly was discovered in the human genome. This terrible disease is still quite unknown and you have to look at the symptoms: the nerves and muscles of the legs and feet weaken the diseases. Although the story in “Eulia” is fiction, unfortunately we cannot say the same thing about that disease.