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Morse Code Used by Human Cells?

Posted by samzenpus on from the can-you-feel-them-talking dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers from several universities and drug companies in the U.K. have discovered that our cells are using Morse-like signals to switch genes on and off. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) write that this discovery may have major implications for the pharmaceutical industry. Better and more efficient drugs would only deliver the signals to our cells that will activate a desired behavior. Sounds like science fiction? Read more for other details, references and pictures."

1 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. Wtf is this press release saying? by harvardian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The number of 'dots and dashes' being used by each signal could have different purposes, all of which could be modified by a drug.

    Alright, I work in a chemical biology lab, and I don't know wtf this is supposed to mean. It's common for proteins to have their localization controlled by phosphorylation (i.e., a transcription factor, which is a protein that turns a gene on when bound to DNA, can only get into the nucleus to do its job depending on whether it's been phosphorylated or not). But what does "signal" mean in this context? The press release doesn't offer any scientific details.

    This is really just all hype until they can make a claim beyond vague analogies. So why does this make the front page of Slashdot?