Humans May Have Fewer Genes Than Worms
Once upon a time in the 1960s, scientists thought the human genome might contain as many as 2 million genes, units of DNA that code for proteins. But ever since then, the estimated number has been steadily shrinking. A new study suggests that the human genome could contain as few as 19,000 protein-coding genes, fewer than nematode worms. By the time the Human Genome Project began in the late 1990s, the Physics arXiv Blog reports, the highest estimates of the number of protein-coding genes put the number at 100,000, and estimates continue to fall: In 2001, the initial sequence of the human genome cut the figure dramatically. The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium put it at 30,000 while a rival group led by Craig Venter estimated the number at 26,000. In 2004, the final draft of the human genome reduced the figure even further to around 24,500 and in 2007 further analysis suggested...