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Human Gene Count Slashed

Posted by samzenpus on from the half-the-human-I-used-to-be dept.

jd writes "The estimate for the number of genes in human genetic code has been savagely revised downwards. The new estimate, of between 20,000 to 25,000 genes is marginally less than the 27,000 for the Arabidopsis, a flowering plant in the mustard family. Earlier estimates had placed the number of genes at around 44,000 - or even as high as 100,000. Eric Lander of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts is quoted in the CNN story as saying that the number of genes isn't as crucial as how they are used." Read on for more, below.

jd continues: "This has the potential for making life extremely interesting for genetic engineers, given that both individual genes and interactions between genes must be proportionately more complex, in order to get the same level of complexity out. Half the number of genes equates to twice the information encoded in forms other than discrete physical blocks of code.

There is no mention in the article of a story running in 2002 of genetic therapies unexpectedly causing cancer, although if you now factor in the increased complexity of interactions, it is possible that such side-effects can be better understood and therefore prevented. The new estimates, therefore, are more than just idle curiosity but have the potential for impacting how the science is approached."

5 of 504 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Genomes? by Wehesheit · · Score: 0, Troll
    Troll?

    I'll have some of that crackpipe please.

    --
    This P.I.G. will walk on the water, This P.I.G. will walk on the sea, This P.I.G. will walk whereever he wants.
  2. Re:Death of Creationist Theory? by B.D.Mills · · Score: 1, Troll

    I wonder how quick Creationsits would be to embrace the "God did it" philosophy if their three-year-old broke a vase and the child claimed that "God did it"? Would they question it?

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    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke
  3. MS Genomics by ipsender · · Score: 0, Troll

    Just don't let Microsoft loose on re-engineering the human genome - it will bloat out to 50Mb and be even more susceptible to viruses, requiring plug-in service packs within 18 months

  4. Re:Long enough post? by nwbvt · · Score: 0, Troll

    Well he had to include a few paragraphs of commentary on a subject he clearly has no clue about. This is slashdot after all.

    --
    Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
  5. Re:Death of Creationist Theory? by benna · · Score: 0, Troll

    This really is a good point. There is an old jewish story about how abraham smashed up all of his father's idols and then claimed that the idols fought and broke themselves. This is obviously absurd. The ironic thing is this absurdity can be just as easily extended to saying "god did it."

    --
    "It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." -Ludwig Wittgenstein