Fig. 2.

Changes in CHRFAM7A and CHRNA7 gene expression are specific for IBD. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure CHRFAM7A and CHRNA7 gene expression in biopsies of colon cancer (panels A–F) as all biopsies (panels A–C) or by colon cancer stage (panels D–F). Gene expression in each sample was normalized to that of actin or, as indicated, between CHRFAM7A and CHRNA7 using the ∆ Ct method. Relative gene expression was then compared to that in control biopsies using the ∆∆Ct method. Differences in gene expression between the control and disease biopsies were measured by REST [30] for group-wise comparisons and no differences were found to be significant at p < 0.05. Expression of the human-specific gene TBCD1 from all IBD samples (panel G), in Crohn's and ulcerative colitis (panel H) or in colon cancer (panel I) were also unchanged. As illustrated in panel J, new genes emerge in new environments to adapt to new behaviors like bipedal behavior (trauma) and the harnessing of fire (burn/sepsis) and alter responsiveness. Off-target effects (panel K) for example regulating α7-nAChR activity in neurons might prove even more important than the original pro-inflammatory selection but the sequelae for human disease tied to original (inflammation) and unanticipated (mental health) effects of gene expression.