Closer Look Found Important Functions in Junk RNA

Did evolutionists’ belief in
genomic junk delay
important discoveries?

The “junk DNA” belief is pretty much dead now. What’s interesting is how much important function is coming to light in “untranslated regions” of DNA and RNA. The following study from University of Arizona might have shocked proponents of the “junk DNA” myth had they known this in 1990, but it makes perfect sense now when looking with a design perspective on how cells regulate genetic information. The question then becomes: Would biochemists have discovered these functions sooner without wearing the blinders of “junk DNA” assumptions?

Some History

Background on terms: strands of DNA and RNA are often described by their ending attachment points, either 3′ (three-prime) with a hydroxyl group at one end, or 5′ (five-prime) with a phosphate group on the other end. These terms help biochemists understand the direction of translation or replication processes. Portions of messenger RNAs often have untranslated regions, denoted 3’UTR or 5’UTR.

Research shows how RNA ‘junk’ controls our genes (University of Arizona, 1 July 2024). “New study explores the machinery of gene regulation.” The use of the word ‘junk’ in quotes in this headline gives a clue that a major rethink is coming.

First, the press release offers a primer on RNA:

Genes are segments of DNA that contain the blueprints for an astonishing diversity of life on Earth. However, part of the secret to this versatility lies not in the genes themselves but in how their effects are delicately fine-tuned. Genes provide the instructions for making proteins, which play essential roles in building and repairing cells and tissues, speeding up chemical reactions and defending the body against pathogens.

To produce proteins, genes require an intermediary molecule called RNA. During this process, DNA is first copied into RNA, which acts as a bridge between the DNA template and the resulting proteins. Although our DNA genome is fixed from birth, RNA provides the body enormous flexibility by regulating how genes are expressed.

Examining roundworms, researchers found important regulatory functions in 3’UTRs. This required rethinking old assumptions.

Initially, noncoding RNAs like 3’UTRs were regarded as nonessential genetic fragments because they themselves do not code for proteins. However, recent research reveals that they are crucial for modifying gene behavior and influencing mRNA stability, localization and translation efficiency. Translation refers to the process of converting RNA into proteins composed of sequences of amino acids.

Who regarded them as nonessential? Evolutionists, who tended to view anything not understood as junk leftover from millions of years of trial and error from ‘evolutionary tinkering’ by natural selection, the ‘blind watchmaker’ as Richard Dawkins called the Stuff Happens Law. This kind of thinking also wasted decades of time before functions were discovered for so-called “vestigial organs” and claims of “bad design” in the body.

Proponents of intelligent design, by contrast, look at a phenomenon with a different assumption, stated by ID leader Dr Paul Nelson in the documentary Flight: The Genius of Birds, when he quoted his grandfather telling him, “If something works, it’s not happening by accident.” Design scientists seek to learn, therefore, what it’s there for.

Function in the Junk

Had they instead approached the unknown with a view to figuring out what it does, would they have learned the following things about these 3’UTRs sooner? The U of A researchers found that 3’UTRs:

• “help to govern how and when proteins are made by controlling the stability and efficiency of the mRNA.”
• allow for “dynamic responses to environmental changes and enables control over protein production, which is essential for adapting to various physiological needs.”
• “often contain binding sites for other elements responsible for protein regulation, including microRNAs and RNA-binding proteins.”

These functions make sense now. Cells cannot manufacture proteins willy-nilly, like broomstick water carriers in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The quantity must be matched to need, and needs reflect the environment outside the cell. Cells manufacture their protein machines with just-in-time strategies, and deliver them to the places that need them. RNA 3’UTRs take part in this dynamic, responsive regulatory control.

The U of A team spent 20 years investigating these functions in 3’UTRs, and concluded that they are important—indeed, essential for understanding. Their praise for these lowly pieces of ‘junk’ elevated them to Cinderella status:

3’UTRs are an integral part of a sophisticated and highly adaptable system of checks and balances on protein production….

Despite their importance, scientists previously knew little about them. The new study addresses this gap by mapping out 3’UTRs for nearly all genes in C. elegans, providing the most complete map of its kind for any animal.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a well-studied lab organism, convenient for its tiny size, short life cycle and fully-mapped genome (see Paul Nelson describe “How to Build a Worm” at Evolution News). C. elegans is also transparent and therefore easy to observe, and many of its biological processes have counterparts in human cells.

Challenging Earlier Beliefs

The U of A press release continues,

The study found that the process of switching between different 3’UTRs is less common in C. elegans than previously thought. This challenges earlier beliefs and highlights the complexity of gene regulation. Using the new data, scientists updated predictions for how microRNAs interact with genes.

The new detailed map of the 3’UTRs from this project can help medical researchers understand cancer, diabetes and neurological disorders, the researchers say.

The new dataset produced in the study will be a key resource for scientists studying genetics and human health. The ASU team plans to continue their research to further explore how these regulatory elements work and their critical influence on gene control.

Lead researcher Marco Mangone works in the Biodesign Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics at ASU. He apparently had no need for Darwinism because the team’s paper in Nucleic Acids Research (25 June 2024) says nothing about evolution.

Sophisticated. Highly adaptable. Enormous flexibility. Checks and balances. Complexity of gene regulation. Delicately fine-tuned. Promoting stability and efficiency. Important. Essential. How wrong the ‘genomic junk’ believers were!

Messenger RNA exiting cell nucleus (Illustra Media)

Evolutionary assumptions had caused earlier biochemists to ignore a door behind which treasures lurked. By removing their ‘genomic junk’ blinders, these researchers at University of Arizona found a wealth of new discoveries inside, with room after room to explore, offering many more years of productive scientific discoveries—findings that might help treat or cure life-threatening diseases.

We do not know Dr Mangone’s feelings about intelligent design (ID). I mentioned his earlier work on RNAs in lizards that can regenerate their tails (Evolution News, 8 July 2016), but whatever his thoughts on evolution, his approach here was consistent with Nelson’s proverb, “If something works, it’s not happening by accident.”

To sum up, belief in creation is not a science stopper; Darwinism is. ID is the Future of biology.