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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

In one of the largest and most detailed studies of animal molecular biology ever undertaken, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Toronto discovered the assembly instructions for nearly 1,000 protein complexes [sciencedaily.com] shared by most kinds of animals, revealing their deep evolutionary relationships. Those instructions offer a powerful new tool for studying the causes of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and cancer.

Proteins come together to form protein complexes, or molecular machines, to carry out many specific biological functions in cells. The authors of the study, published this week in the journal Nature, identified nearly 1,000 molecular machines critical for the development and survival of species as diverse as sea anemones, worms, mice and humans. For example, the researchers found identical protein complexes required by the cells that organize the proper formation of the head and eye across the different species.
...
"Essentially, we were able to construct a sort of assembly diagram of how thousands of different proteins come together to carry out their proper roles inside the cells of most kinds of animals," said lead UT Austin researcher Edward Marcotte, a professor of molecular biosciences. "Protein assemblies in humans were often identical to those in other species. This not only reinforces what we already know about our common evolutionary ancestry, it also has practical implications, providing the ability to study the genetic basis for a wide variety of diseases and how they present in different species."

It's a powerful testament to the parsimony of nature.

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