Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2026

Detection of Copy Number Alterations Using Single Cell Sequencing
Published on: February 17, 2017
Copy number variation and evolution in humans and chimpanzees.
George H Perry1, Fengtang Yang, Tomas Marques-Bonet
1School of Human Evolution & Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.
Copy number variants (CNVs) are key to human diversity. This study shows human and chimpanzee CNVs share genomic regions, suggesting selection on genes involved in inflammation and cell proliferation during human evolution.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Evolutionary Biology
- Comparative Genomics
Background:
- Copy number variants (CNVs) contribute to human phenotypic diversity and gene family evolution.
- The evolutionary role of CNVs remains incompletely understood.
- CNVs provide raw material for gene duplication and expansion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify CNVs in humans and chimpanzees and fixed copy number differences between species.
- To investigate the evolutionary significance of CNVs by comparing human and chimpanzee genomes.
- To identify genes under selection for copy number changes.
Main Methods:
- Comparative genomic hybridization using a single human microarray platform.
- Analysis of CNVs in 30 humans and 30 chimpanzees.
- Adaptation of population genetic analyses for copy number data.
Main Results:
- Human and chimpanzee CNVs occur in orthologous regions more often than expected by chance.
- CNVs are strongly associated with homologous intrachromosomal segmental duplications.
- Genes involved in inflammatory response and cell proliferation show evidence of positive selection for copy number changes.
Conclusions:
- CNVs play a significant role in the adaptive phenotypic differentiation between humans and chimpanzees.
- Positive selection on copy number changes of specific gene categories may have driven human evolution.
- Understanding CNV evolution is crucial for comprehending species divergence.
Related Concept Videos
Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...
Synteny and Evolution
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Gene Duplication and Divergence
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are characterized.
Multi-species Conserved Sequences
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved DNA...
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...

