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De-extinction is not just for Mammoths!
One of the interesting discoveries of the twenty first century has been how much genetic material we (i.e., Homo sapiens) have that came from our extinct Neanderthal and Devonian cousins.
We don't know exactly what happened to these groups, but it is now obvious that they were very close relations. As in, family. Literally, blood relations.
This is an interesting question because many of the genes we have identified that seem to have come from our Neanderthal relatives are quite valuable for our health. When we interbred, the children inherited stuff from both lines, and some of those genes were good for them and their descendants.
When Neanderthals and Devonians died out, most of their genes died with them. Genes that we could have inherited, but, didn't.
This fall researchers at the University of Pennsylvania report an interesting study that "de-extincts" molecules from these ancient genomes [2]. "Molecular de-extinction".
The basic idea is to search for peptides encoded in ancient DNA, looking for molecules that have anti-microbial properties.
The methodology is a bit round about. They build a machine learning model (naturally!) that analyzes DNA to predict what peptide will be produced.
No, I don't understand the chemistry, or exactly what the ML is doing.
The results are zillions of peptides, which they tested and found a handful of interesting prospects, i.e., that helped mice fight infections.
One reason why this is interesting is that the DNA of living or once living organisms is likely to preserve the blueprints "useful" compounds more than random stuff. Most of the compounds probably have little to do with fighting microbes, but it's a good place to look for them.
This round about approach is a bit "goofy" [1]. But, looking for candidate compounds is basically searching through a near infinite number of possibilities. So any method that brings in even a few hits can be a win.
The researchers report that this method scores "hits" that are not found by conventional search methods, suggesting that this is adding to the overall search.
This strategy actually makes sense, in that the ancient DNA isn't part of our current genome, but was part of a living genome. I.e., Neanderthals and Devonians "discovered" and retained these genes, so, there is stuff encoded there that was good for them. We don't have those genes, but they are probably compatible.
In short, this is a good place to look for stuff that might be good for us.
Interesting.
- Katie Hunt, Scientists are bringing molecules back from the dead in quest to fight superbugs, in CNN News, December 15, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/15/health/superbugs-antibiotics-neanderthal-woolly-mammoth-scn
- Jacqueline R. M. A. Maasch, Marcelo D. T. Torres, Marcelo C. R. Melo, and Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez, Molecular de-extinction of ancient antimicrobial peptides enabled by machine learning. Cell Host & Microbe, 31 (8):1260-1274.e6, 2023/08/09/ 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2023.07.001
PS. Another great name for a band:
"De-extinction"
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