User:RelentlessRecusant/Ultraconservation in the genomes of sentient species in the Orion Arm

Escobar et. al (2555). . Nature (3064): 1-12.



1Harvard University, Department of Organismal & Evolutionary Biology, Earth, Sol System 2Acumen Science Laboratories, Department of Bioinformatics, Earth, Sol System

Abstract

Recent studies (Alden et. al, 2553, Nature) have demonstrated the presence of ultraconserved elements in the H. sapiens (Human) and M. cognatus (Sangheili) genomes. Here, using high-resolution and high-throughput chromosomal sequencing, we report that sentient species throughout the Orion Arm share ultraconserved elements, whereas insentient species do not also share these ultraconserved elements. These ultraconserved elements are also under specific epigenetic blockade, with complete methylation of CpG islands and with inhibitory methyl modifications of histone residues. These results suggest that the evolution of sentience is correlated with the acquisition of ultraconserved elements through convergent selection.