Word: genes
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...gene, TRIM5-CypA, produces a protein that is a fusion between two existing proteins—TRIM5 and CypA. TRIM5 binds to viruses related to HIV and destroys them while viruses use the CypA protein to shield themselves from the host cell, said Medical School professor Shawn P. O’Neil, one of the authors of the study...
...researcher’s estimate of when this hybrid gene appeared in the monkey’s genome suggests that lentiviruses have been around for longer than previously believed...
...gene that expresses the fused protein was found in owl monkeys, which are classified as “New World” for their South American origin...
While looking at the natural variation in the TRIM5 gene in Asian macaques, which are considered Old World monkeys, Harvard microbiologist Ruchi M. Newman accidentally discovered a second example of the TRIM5-CypA fusion, according to Medical School professor Welkin P. Johnson, the study’s senior author...
Newman and Johnson said that Old World and New World monkeys split from each other a long time ago, and that this was a rare instance of evolution producing virtually exactly the same protein twice. The gene must have been under strong selective pressure, according to the authors...