Once again, we
discover that we actually knew diddly squat.
On the other hand our own understanding of natural logic languages is
only now becoming sophisticated enough to anticipate just this type of fix in
the system and in fact to expect even a lot more. My difficulty is that I can scope out the
actual quadratic logic system used by biological systems, but cringe at the
task of mapping the operators to the known empirical evidence. It can wait a while.
Otherwise this
is good news. The present dispensation
was intuitively deficient and this begins to close that gap. Bravo.
This is a pretty
good hint on why the system is remarkably stable even if it looks like a horde
of bees shifting around in an envelope.
Scientists discover second, secret DNA code
By AFP | AFP – Thu,
Dec 12, 2013
Scientists
have long believed that DNA tells the cells how to make proteins. But the
discovery of a new, second DNA code Thursday suggests the body speaks two
different languages.
The
findings in the journal Science may have big implications for how medical
experts use the genomes of patients to interpret and diagnose diseases,
researchers said.
The
newfound genetic code within deoxyribonucleic acid, the hereditary material
that exists in nearly every cell of the body, was written right on top of the
DNA code scientists had already cracked.
Rather
than concerning itself with proteins, this one instructs the cells on how genes
are controlled.
Its
discovery means DNA changes, or mutations that come with age or in response to
viruses, may be doing more than what scientists previously thought, he said.
"For
over 40 years we have assumed
that DNA changes affecting the genetic code solely impact how proteins are
made," said lead author John Stamatoyannopoulos, University of
Washington associate professor of genome sciences and of medicine.
"Now
we know that this basic assumption about reading the human genome missed half
of the picture," he said.
"Many
DNA changes that appear to alter protein sequences may actually cause disease
by disrupting gene control programs or even both mechanisms
simultaneously."
Scientists
already knew that the genetic code uses a 64-letter alphabet called codons.
But
now researchers have figured out that some of these codons have two meanings.
Coined
duons, these new elements of DNA language have one meaning related to protein
sequence and another that is related to gene control.
[ this looks like a causation operator
that ensures stability in the required outcome. – arclein ]
The
latter instructions "appear to stabilize certain beneficial features of
proteins and how they are made," the study said.
The
discovery was made as part of the international collaboration of research
groups known as the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements Project, or ENCODE.
It
is funded by the US National Human Genome Research Institute with the goal of
finding out where and how the directions for biological functions are stored in
the human genome.
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