UC Davis

Mechanisms underlying phenotypic divergence across species remain unresolved. In this issue of Cell Genomics, Hansen, Fong, et al.¹ systematically dissect human and rhesus macaque gene expression divergence by screening tens of thousands of orthologous elements for enhancer activity in lymphoblastoid cell lines, revealing a much greater role for trans divergence at levels equal to those of cis effects, counter to the prevailing consensus in the field.