2024-01-09 19:48:00
“Evolution”. This key term in biology designates the changes that accumulate within populations, that is to say groups of individuals of a species which reproduce among themselves.
Sometimes, when a change occurs in a gene, individuals inherit new characteristics that give them an advantage in terms of survival and reproduction in their environment (PBS). These tend to become more frequent in the population, while unfavorable characteristics, conversely, decrease in frequency: this is natural selection.
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However, when alleles, or possible versions of genes, confer neither advantage nor disadvantage for survival and reproduction, frequencies among the population can vary randomly – this is called “genetic drift”. Difficult, in this case, to claim to be able to predict what will happen…
An “invisible ecosystem”?
Between natural selection and genetic drift, which has the most impact? Using data from 2,500 complete genomes of a species of bacteria, three scientists from the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom) carried out an analysis of the “pangenome” – all of the genes of a given species – using using Random Forest, a machine learning method.
After several hundred thousand hours of computer processing, the researchers were able to group the genes by “families”, in order to then analyze the pattern according to which these families were present in certain genomes and absent in others.
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“We found that some gene families never appeared in a genome when another gene family was already there, and that on other occasions some genes were highly dependent on the presence of another gene family. of genes”explains in a communiqué Dr Maria Rosa Domingo-Sananes, co-author of the study published in PNAS (December 26, 2023).
The team interprets these results by claiming to have discovered a sort “invisible ecosystem” within which genes can “cooperate” or enter “conflict” the ones with the others. “These interactions between genes make certain aspects of evolution somewhat predictable and, furthermore, we now have a tool that allows us to make these predictions”adds the researcher.
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New drugs
If this interpretation were to be confirmed by subsequent work, the applications in the field of health could be major.
“Thanks to this work, we can begin to explore the genes that “support” an antibiotic resistance gene, for example”illustrates Dr. Alan Beavan, co-author. “Therefore, if we are trying to eliminate antibiotic resistance, we can target not only the gene of interest, but also the genes that support it.” And to continue:
“We can use this approach to synthesize new types of genetic constructs that could be used to develop new drugs or vaccines. What we know today opens the way to a whole host of other discoveries.”
In addition to medical outlets, the authors also discuss the design of potential “synthetic genomes” and the development of microorganisms designed to capture carbon or degrade pollutants, with the aim of “contribute to efforts to combat climate change”.
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Predictable, really?
It should, however, be emphasized that, “even mainly due to natural selection [plutôt qu’à la dérive génétique, NDLR]the evolution may remain unpredictable”, explained Zachariah Gompert, a biologist at Utah State University (Springer Nature2018), exterior to the new works.
First, because “we don’t really understand the factors that drive selection (i.e. the interaction between an organism and its environment that results in selection)”, or “because we cannot predict the state of the factors on which selection depends (for example, whether it will rain or whether it will be dry)”, he detailed. Enough to stay humble…
On the same topic :
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