BIO 3102 Lecture 6: Lec 6 - Rates of nt substitution
7 Apr 2017
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Document Summary
Nature of changes in dna, protein and their impact. What type of information do we learn and why is it both interesting (for our understanding of life) and useful? (applications) Use of molecular data to help reconstruct evolutionary history a. What do the length of the branches mean? h . Cenancestor = most recent common ancestor of extant organisms. Extant = opp of extinct = still in existence. Luca = last universal common ancestors in primordial life forms. Conservation biology = knowing a species gene pool can help prevent extinction. Humans have more cell divisions than mice, more chances of mutation. Elephants are long-lived and huge and have low cancer rates. Elephants have extra copies of a tumour suppressor gene p53. Largely mystery until we look at molecular basis of what"s going on. The number of diff aa"s between cytochrome c proteins. Not a clear tree but forms a web of life.
