Changes in the timing and level at which genes are expressed are known to play an important role in evolution, but the mechanisms underlying changes in gene expression remain relatively obscure. Until quite recently, evolutionary biologists, like most biologists, tended to study single genes as isolated entities. These studies have added enormously to our understanding of biological evolution. But because gene regulation by its very nature involves interactions between two (or more) genes, researchers have missed a range of evolutionary phenomena that can be observed only at the level of networks of interacting genes. In this article, we consider the change in perspective that genomic technologies—particularly the advent of large-scale platforms for DNA sequencing, genotyping, and measuring gene expression—are bringing to evolutionary biology. We focus specifically on how these technologies can and are being used to increase our understanding of how and why gene expression evolves.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 January 2010
The Evolution of Gene Regulatory Interactions
David A. Garfield,
Gregory A. Wray
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
BioScience
Vol. 60 • No. 1
January 2010
Vol. 60 • No. 1
January 2010
evolution
gene expression
gene networks
gene regulation
genomics