Discovery of silent genes could help answer questions about chronic disease, aging

Genes that scientists believed were “turned off” actually are functioning at a low level, a discovery that could help answer questions about chronic disease and aging, reports a Colorado State University biomedical researcher.

Of the nearly 25,000 human genes science has identified, nearly half are believed to be silent at any particular time and activated only when needed. But Andrey Ptitsyn, biomedical and computer expert in CSU’s Center for Bioinformatics, has discovered that current tools cannot measure the extraordinarily low signal levels of gene expression (genes transcribed into RNA and then translated to make proteins).

Whispering genes

"Genes that we have believed to be silent are actually whispering," says Ptitsyn, who applied a common physics principle to find oscillating patterns of expression in genes previously thought to be shut off.

In most studies, silent genes are excluded from analysis in early stages of research. However, Ptitsyn's research found that the expression patterns of those silent genes coordinated with other genes.

Ptitsyn hopes the discovery will help science build better microarrays — a technology that analyzes expression of many genes in a single experiment quickly and efficiently — to measure gene activity and help find expressions previously hidden.

New outlook for biology

"These findings provide scientists with a technological advancement to detect and measure gene activity previously ignored," Ptitsyn says. "The ability to study and measure these genes changes our entire perspective on biology."

Nearly half of the genes in the human body had formerly been ignored by scientists. We now know they have a role in our bodies, says Ptitsyn. "They are not off; they are on a dimmer switch turned down low. Their role in aging and disease is yet to be discovered, but we could expect that they have an effect."

Excerpted from an article published in the journal PLoS ONE at www.plosone.org. Visit the CSU Center for Bioinformatics at www.bioinformatics.colostate.edu for more information.