Posted on 02/07/2008 9:22:15 AM PST by Renfield
DNA has been found to have a bizarre ability to put itself together, even at a distance, when according to known science it shouldn't be able to. Explanation: None, at least not yet.
Scientists are reporting evidence that contrary to our current beliefs about what is possible, intact double-stranded DNA has the “amazing” ability to recognize similarities in other DNA strands from a distance. Somehow they are able to identify one another, and the tiny bits of genetic material tend to congregate with similar DNA. The recognition of similar sequences in DNA’s chemical subunits, occurs in a way unrecognized by science. There is no known reason why the DNA is able to combine the way it does, and from a current theoretical standpoint this feat should be chemically impossible.
Even so, the research published in ACS’ Journal of Physical Chemistry B, shows very clearly that homology recognition between sequences of several hundred nucleotides occurs without physical contact or presence of proteins. Double helixes of DNA can recognize matching molecules from a distance and then gather together, all seemingly without help from any other molecules or chemical signals.
In the study, scientists observed the behavior of fluorescently tagged DNA strands placed in water that contained no proteins or other material that could interfere with the experiment. Strands with identical nucleotide sequences were about twice as likely to gather together as DNA strands with different sequences. No one knows how individual DNA strands could possibly be communicating in this way, yet somehow they do. The “telepathic” effect is a source of wonder and amazement for scientists.
“Amazingly, the forces responsible for the sequence recognition can reach across more than one nanometer of water separating the surfaces of the nearest neighbor DNA,” said the authors Geoff S. Baldwin, Sergey Leikin, John M. Seddon, and Alexei A. Kornyshev and colleagues.
This recognition effect may help increase the accuracy and efficiency of the homologous recombination of genes, which is a process responsible for DNA repair, evolution, and genetic diversity. The new findings may also shed light on ways to avoid recombination errors, which are factors in cancer, aging, and other health issues.
Ohhhh?
Cool, I love it when the impossible happens.
oh, come on now - DNA happened by accident.
No, don’t look at the impossibly complex _information_ that it contains.
It just fell together that way.
Paging Richard Hoagland. Another example of tetrahedral geometry.
Paging Richard Hoagland. Another example of tetrahedral geometry.
LOL!
Ammo for homos to cling to. "We were born that way".
This would seem to verify that.
I have spent a lifetime wondering what to do with this bit of information.....now I know; I should have become a bio-scientist!
I have spent a lifetime wondering what to do with this bit of information.....now I know; I should have become a bio-scientist!
Congregate with similar DNA? How long before some liberal proposes a mandatory DNA diversity program?
Big Whoop!! What kind of PIKER DNA are they testing in this lab?!?!?!?
My wife - who is made ENTIRELY of DNA, I can assure you - can hear me make a golf date with my buddies on our anniversary FROM A DIFFERENT TIME ZONE. And then call me to task on it...
I gotta give credit where it's due: THAT is some talented DNA.
Nice. A new playground for scientists.
Suddenly Star Trek’s sub-space communications theory is looking more realistic.
mitochondria....or midichlorians?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.