Posted on 10/06/2003 4:34:06 PM PDT by blam
Scientists vie to break junk DNA's secret code
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
(Filed: 06/10/2003)
Huge tracts of human DNA, previously written off as meaningless junk, have been found to contain a hitherto unrecognised "genetic grammar", making the language of our genes much more complex than previously thought.
The discovery is of potentially huge significance, since it could lead to an entirely new explanation for certain diseases and symptoms. A race is now on among teams of scientists worldwide to investigate this cryptic code.
While the genetic recipe of a human being is spelt out with three billion letters of DNA code, only about two per cent of these correspond to the genes - the DNA that describes the proteins that build and operate bodies.
In the latest issue of the journal Science, Prof Stylianos Antonarakis of the University of Geneva Medical School, Dr Ewen Kirkness of the Institute of Genomic Research, Maryland, and colleagues have reported compelling evidence that up to three per cent of our genetic material has a crucial role that is not understood.
They made the unexpected discovery that some DNA regions of humans, dogs and species as distant as elephant and wallaby are nearly identical. These regions of what were once called junk have been dubbed "conserved non-genic sequences", or CNGs, a reference to how they are not conventional genes.
Prof Antonarakis said: "I suspect that mutations in CNGs may contribute to numerous genetic disorders." Defects in CNGs could result in illness while the symptoms of Down's syndrome, caused by an extra copy of a chromosome, might be linked to the presence of additional CNGs.
"Many laboratories are now working on identifying pathogenic mutations," he said.
LOL, you are quite amusing, but all of those statements are true.
From this thread:, posted by the Memorex Man:
It's quite amusing to me, but you really should try to get back some little bit of respectability before it's too far gone for you to get any of it back
++++++++
YIP, YIP??
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For instance, why is it that any thread that deals in science, rarely turns into a discussion about it??
Why must people resort to ad hominem attacks instead of reliable data to refute an argument?
Why must emotion be so heavy on these threads??
You see, more questions.
I think a crash course in critical thinking and philosophical discourse should be required before anyone can post on these threads.
Of course, this is an untestable theory, and therefore negated in that respect.
go figure.
I myself am given to bouts of "emotionalism", especially something that I feel strongly about.
Inciting anger via inflammatory comments, on the other hand, which is another common tactic, is akin to baiting and should never be tolerated. I personally endeavor not to do that.
You should try it sometime.
Not really ... any details --- differences ?
Help me out ... Science is stable - predictable --- evolution is changing ?
Don't recall asking you for anything. As far as attacking goes, where is that one, hmmm?
To quote Aric....This exchange is Quite Amusing, to me. Yipper.
Well, I have heard it said by pro-evos that junk DNA is just that. I for one don't buy it. My post #396 gives my opinion on this - in reference to a class discussion with my professor, who performed some of the genetic engineering experiments I was referring to.
gore3K - I pinged you so it would not seem I was talking about you without your knowledge, a courtesy rarely extended.
I'm not going to defend what he said though - I'm not clairvoyant, and cannot possibly know "exactly" what he meant by that.
On the topic of clairvoyance, and it's relevancy to this thread, and I believe, Gore3K's comment - DNA can't prove evolution. Nor can DNA prove God's existence. I could be wrong, but God's existence has a bridging step - faith. Therefore, arguments about either are negated. But I don't recall Gore3K saying anything contrary to what I've just said.
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