Figure 1. Case of homology between human arm morphology between species.
What is homology?
The term homology refers to a similarity between things. In biology homology refers to the similarities in structure, DNA/RNA, or protein across species. Figuring out why different species share common characteristics has been an interest of scientists, and analyzing the function of conserved areas in homologs can provide insight into how they play a role in humans.There are two ways in which homology is described, orthologs and paralogs. Orthologs are genes in different species, that retain the same/similar function, that evolved from a common ancestor. Paralogs are the result of a duplication of a gene that evolves to gain a new function, even if it is a similar function to the original gene. (1)
Figure 2. Depiction of homologs, orthologs, and paralogs.
What are the orthologs of LPHN3
Human (homo sapien) Adhesion G protein-coupled receptor L3 isoform 2 Accession number: NP_056051.2 1469 aa 100% identity