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Review
. 2012 Dec;13(12):853-66.
doi: 10.1038/nrg3336.

Evolution of genetic and genomic features unique to the human lineage

Majesta O'Bleness  1 , Veronica B Searles, Ajit Varki, Pascal Gagneux, James M Sikela
Affiliations
Review

Evolution of genetic and genomic features unique to the human lineage

Majesta O'Bleness et al. Nat Rev Genet. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Given the unprecedented tools that are now available for rapidly comparing genomes, the identification and study of genetic and genomic changes that are unique to our species have accelerated, and we are entering a golden age of human evolutionary genomics. Here we provide an overview of these efforts, highlighting important recent discoveries, examples of the different types of human-specific genomic and genetic changes identified, and salient trends, such as the localization of evolutionary adaptive changes to complex loci that are highly enriched for disease associations. Finally, we discuss the remaining challenges, such as the incomplete nature of current genome sequence assemblies and difficulties in linking human-specific genomic changes to human-specific phenotypic traits.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interest Statement

JMS is founder and shareholder in GATC Science, LLC. AV is Co-Founder and shareholder in Sialix, Inc.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Genome positions of HLS gene changes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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