The video explains how new genes originate. Whereas many genes are formed by duplication of preexisting genes others arise directly from genomic regions by still poorly understood mechanisms. The latter genes are called orphan genes and represent radically new evolutionary inventions. The animation was produced by the participants of the 2013 edition of the Workshop Inform.animation at University of Alghero, funded by EU Erasmus Lifelong Learning Programme. It was inspired in the work developed at the Evolutionary Genomics Group (IMIM-UPF), and in other groups around the world, on the evolution of orphan genes.
