Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Multi-species Conserved Sequences02:51

Multi-species Conserved Sequences

4.0K
Next-generation sequencing technologies have created large genomic databases of a variety of animals and plants. Ever since the human genome project was completed, scientists studied the genome of primates, mammals, and other phylogenetically distant living beings. Such large-scale  studies have provided new insights into the evolutionary relationship between organisms.
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved...
4.0K
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?02:05

Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?

7.3K
The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...
7.3K
Synteny and Evolution02:31

Synteny and Evolution

3.3K
John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
3.3K
Gene Duplication and Divergence02:37

Gene Duplication and Divergence

6.3K
The seminal work of Ohno in 1970 popularized the idea of gene duplication and divergence. DNA sequence comparison studies reveal that a large portion of the genes in bacteria, archaebacteria, and eukaryotes was  generated by gene duplication and divergence, indicating its critical role in evolution.
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...
6.3K
Exon Recombination02:32

Exon Recombination

3.7K
The evolution of new genes is critical for speciation. Exon recombination, also known as exon shuffling or domain shuffling, is an important means of new gene formation. It is observed across vertebrates, invertebrates, and in some plants such as potatoes and sunflowers. During exon recombination, exons from the same or different genes recombine and produce new exon-intron combinations, which might evolve into new genes. 
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon...
3.7K
Gene Conversion02:08

Gene Conversion

9.9K
Other than maintaining genome stability via DNA repair, homologous recombination plays an important role in diversifying the genome. In fact, the recombination of sequences forms the molecular basis of genomic evolution. Random and non-random permutations of genomic sequences create a library of new amalgamated sequences. These newly formed genomes can determine the fitness and survival of cells. In bacteria, homologous and non-homologous types of recombination lead to the evolution of new...
9.9K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Fine-mapping candidate neuropsychiatric regulatory variants using cell type-aware comparative genomics.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

RERconverge Update: Runtime Reduction and Analysis Function Overhaul.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

A scalable approach to investigating sequence-to-function predictions from personal genomes.

Nature methods·2026
Same author

New methods drive new biology.

Genetics·2026
Same author

MoleRate: comparing molecular relative evolutionary rates to detect convergent evolution.

Evolution; international journal of organic evolution·2025
Same author

Ultra-fast variant effect prediction using biophysical transcription factor binding models.

Nucleic acids research·2025
Same journal

The exquisite mechanics of a tsetse bite.

eLife·2026
Same journal

Distinct involvements of the subthalamic nucleus subpopulations in reward-biased decision-making in monkeys.

eLife·2026
Same journal

Pink1-mediated mitophagy in the endothelium releases proteins encoded by mitochondrial DNA and activates neutrophil responses during inflammation.

eLife·2026
Same journal

Restraint of melanoma progression by cells in the local skin environment.

eLife·2026
Same journal

Brawn before bite in endemic Asian eutherian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction.

eLife·2026
Same journal

Experimental evolution to thermal stress indicates climate resilience in a cosmopolitan arthropod.

eLife·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 22, 2025

A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals
07:40

A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals

Published on: March 13, 2011

20.9K

Complementary evolution of coding and noncoding sequence underlies mammalian hairlessness.

Amanda Kowalczyk1,2, Maria Chikina2, Nathan Clark3

  • 1Carnegie Mellon-University of Pittsburgh PhD Program in Computational Biology, Pittsburgh, United States.

Elife
|November 7, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Scientists identified genetic and regulatory elements influencing reduced body hair in mammals. This study reveals how changes in coding and noncoding DNA contribute to hair loss, impacting hair growth and follicle development.

Keywords:
convergent evolutionevolutionary biologygeneticsgenomicshairhairlesshumanmouseratregressive evolutionrhesus macaque

More Related Videos

Flat Mount Imaging of Mouse Skin and Its Application to the Analysis of Hair Follicle Patterning and Sensory Axon Morphology
13:58

Flat Mount Imaging of Mouse Skin and Its Application to the Analysis of Hair Follicle Patterning and Sensory Axon Morphology

Published on: June 25, 2014

21.7K
Rapid Genetic Analysis of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Signaling During Hair Regeneration
10:09

Rapid Genetic Analysis of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Signaling During Hair Regeneration

Published on: February 28, 2013

13.8K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 22, 2025

A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals
07:40

A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals

Published on: March 13, 2011

20.9K
Flat Mount Imaging of Mouse Skin and Its Application to the Analysis of Hair Follicle Patterning and Sensory Axon Morphology
13:58

Flat Mount Imaging of Mouse Skin and Its Application to the Analysis of Hair Follicle Patterning and Sensory Axon Morphology

Published on: June 25, 2014

21.7K
Rapid Genetic Analysis of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Signaling During Hair Regeneration
10:09

Rapid Genetic Analysis of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Signaling During Hair Regeneration

Published on: February 28, 2013

13.8K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics
  • Mammalian Biology

Background:

  • Body hair is a key mammalian trait, yet some species like whales and humans exhibit significant hair reduction.
  • Understanding the genetic underpinnings of hair quantity is crucial for evolutionary and developmental studies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify the genetic and noncoding sequences responsible for reduced hair quantity in mammals.
  • To investigate the evolutionary patterns of these sequences in hairless versus hairy mammals.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized an evolutionary-rates-based method (RERconverge) for genome-wide scans across 62 mammal species.
  • Analyzed 19,149 genes and 343,598 conserved noncoding regions to detect differential evolutionary rates.

Main Results:

  • Discovered known and novel hair-related genes and hundreds of putative regulatory elements associated with hair reduction.
  • Identified distinct evolutionary patterns in coding sequences (hair shaft structure) and noncoding regions (hair follicle development).
  • Observed a dichotomy where coding genes (e.g., KRT2) showed acceleration without noncoding shifts, while noncoding regions near regulatory genes (e.g., mir205) showed acceleration without coding shifts.

Conclusions:

  • Both protein-coding and regulatory sequence evolution contribute convergently to the phenotype of reduced body hair.
  • The interplay between coding and noncoding sequence evolution is key to understanding hair quantity variation in mammals.