Although each organism has a unique genome, a single gene sequence, each individual has many epigenomes. An epigenome consists of chemical compounds and proteins that can bind to DNA and regulate gene action, either by activating or deactivating them or producing organ- or tissue-specific proteins. As it is a highly dynamic material, it can provide a large amount of information to shed light on the evolution of the various tissues and organs that make up the body.

Now, a team from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), a joint centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), has carried out the largest study to date on the regulatory elements in the genome of primates. The exhaustive analysis conducted by the research team led by Tomas Marquès-Bonet, principal investigator of the Comparative Genomics research group at the IBE, has analysed a wide spectrum of signals regulating genes in the great apes and in humans, including weak activity signals that have been overlooked in previous studies. The study, co-led by the researcher David Juan of the IBE, has revealed that in humans, the weakest regulatory signals, that are not usually studied, play an important role in the regulation of genes linked to brain. The research opens the door to deciphering the impact that these signals may have on the evolution of humans and other primates.