The key to human individuality may lie not in our genes, but in
the sequences that surround and control them, according to new
research by scientists at the Stanford University School of
Medicine and Yale University. The interaction of those sequences
with a class of key proteins, called transcription factors, can
vary significantly between two people and are likely to affect
our appearance, our development and even our predisposition to
certain diseases, the study found. The discovery suggests that
researchers focusing exclusively on genes to learn what makes
people different from one another have been looking in the wrong
place. "We are rapidly entering a time when nearly anyone can
have his or her genome sequenced," said Michael Snyder, PhD,
professor and chair of genetics at Stanford. "However, the bulk
of the differences among individuals are not found in the genes
themselves, but in regions we know relatively little about. Now
we see that these differences profoundly impact protein binding
and gene expr