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Human Genome More Like a Functional Network
bshell writes "An article in science blog says we may have to rethink how genes work. So called "junk DNA" actually appears to be functional. What's more it works in a mysterious way involving multiple overlaps that seems to be connected in some sort of network." From the article:
"The ENCODE consortium's major findings include the discovery that the majority of DNA in the human genome is transcribed into functional molecules, called RNA, and that these transcripts extensively overlap one another. This broad pattern of transcription challenges the long-standing view that the human genome consists of a relatively small set of discrete genes, along with a vast amount of so-called junk DNA that is not biologically active.
The new data indicates the genome contains very little unused sequences and, in fact, is a complex, interwoven network. In this network, genes are just one of many types of DNA sequences that have a functional impact. "Our perspective of transcription and genes may have to evolve," the researchers state in their Nature paper, noting the network model of the genome "poses some interesting mechanistic questions" that have yet to be answered."
They need to hire some Perl and 60's-style-COBOL programmers who know how to read tangled code ;-)
Table-ized A.I.
If an analogy were something standing up, it could fall down. But if it's a car then the analogy would drive away.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
These scientists have probably been looking at cells running in the debugger...
I walk down the street and see 100s of people who appear to be predominantly junk DNA.
Its like lego. At a glance it looks like you've made a castle. But if you study it too closely you realize you've just put a whole bunch of blocks on top of each other.
Using openSUSE instead of Windows since 9th of October, 2007 and liking it.
It's like masonry. At a glance it looks like you've put a bunch of rocks on top of each other. But if you study it closely you realize you've just made a castle.
It's like the Internet. At a glance it looks like you've made an insightful comment. But if you study it too closely you realize you've just made another redundant posting.
It's like a potato, because I like potatoes, and lobsters crawl the depths of the sea.
A metacar?
Or would that be a car that would only allow other cars to ride in it?
Well, I never metacar I didn't like.