Genome Biology (May 2017)

Horizontal gene transfer is not a hallmark of the human genome

  • Steven L. Salzberg

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-017-1214-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 1
pp. 1 – 5

Abstract

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Abstract Crisp et al. recently reported that 145 human genes have been horizontally transferred from distant species. Here, I re-analyze those genes listed by Crisp et al. as having the highest certainty of having been horizontally transferred, as well as 17 further genes from the 2001 human genome article, and find little or no evidence to support claims of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Please see related Research article: https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-015-0607-3

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