Duplication and Divergence: The Evolution of New Genes and Old Ideas

▪ Abstract Over 35 years ago, Susumu Ohno stated that gene duplication was the single most important factor in evolution ( 97 ). He reiterated this point a few years later in proposing that without duplicated genes the creation of metazoans, vertebrates, and mammals from unicellular organisms would have been impossible. Such big leaps in evolution, he argued, required the creation of new gene loci with previously nonexistent functions ( 98 ). Bold statements such as these, combined with his proposal that at least one whole-genome duplication event facilitated the evolution of vertebrates, have made Ohno an icon in the literature on genome evolution. However, discussion on the occurrence and consequences of…

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  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada