Genetics Central Dogma Is Dead
September 12, 2007
The science of life is undergoing changes so jolting that even its top researchers are feeling something akin to shell-shock.
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Do Genes Reveal the Cambrian Explosion?
September 4, 2007
A Croatian geneticist believes he can find the Cambrian Explosion in the genes. Science Daily told about Tomislav Domazet-Loso from the Rudjer Boskovic Institute in Zagreb, whose team employed a “novel methodological approach in evolutionary studies” they called “genomic phylostratigraphy.” Looking for a “genetic trigger” for the Cambrian explosion, they hoped their method can “shed […]
Mystery of the Ultraconserved Elements, Cont.
August 18, 2007
ejerano et al reported ultraconserved elements in the human genome (05/27/2004). These were non-coding regions that, for some unknown reason, showed no evolution between mouse and human – a time span over tens of millions of years. Since many of these ultraconserved regions are also found in bird genomes, they added that some genetic regions […]
Stupid Evolution Quote of the Week: Shark Chefs and Finger Food
August 15, 2007
A press release from University of Florida wins this week’s prize for trying to make dogmatism funny (or at least appealing to snackers): When the first four-legged animals sprouted fingers and toes, they took an ancient genetic recipe and simply extended the cooking time, say University of Florida scientists writing in Wednesday’s issue of the […]
DNA Repair Is Highly Coordinated
August 14, 2007
The remarkable ability of cells to repair DNA damage has been the subject of several recent articles. As a long, physical molecule subject to perturbing forces, DNA is subject to breakage on occasion. If repair mechanisms were not in place, the genetic information would quickly become hopelessly scrambled and life would break down. Studies are […]
Darwinism Seen in Action!
August 3, 2007
An example of Darwinian evolution in action was reported by EurekAlert. This dramatic announcement called it a “rare example” of a “controversial theory of genetic conflict” in the reproduction of certain fish: The conflict has been likened to a “battle of the sexes” or an “arms race” at the molecular level between mothers and fathers. […]
Keep the Stem Cell News Straight
July 19, 2007
Stem cell technology continues to make news, but the phrase “stem cells” alone can mask serious ethical issues. Adult stem cells (AS) and embryonic stem cells (ES) are both being investigated for their ability to transform into any cell type in the body. Both are advertised as promising dramatic cures for debilitating diseases, with their […]
Cool Cell Tricks
July 16, 2007
Some cell parts act like acrobats, some like rescue workers, and some like I.T. professionals. Here are some recent stories about the tricks that living cells perform each day. Precision formation flying: The Scientist expressed amazement at the precision of key factors in development of the body plan in fruit flies. The levels of expression […]
What Are Human Genes Doing in a Sea Anemone?
July 8, 2007
The genome of a sea anemone has been published, and of all things, this lowly animal has genes common to vertebrates, even humans. Science Daily began with a conundrum, “The first analysis of the genome of the sea anemone shows it to be nearly as complex as the human genome, providing major insights into the […]
The Chimp-Human 1% Difference: A Useful Lie
June 29, 2007
Jon Cohen made a remarkable admission in Science this week.1 The popular notion that humans and chimpanzees are genetically 99% similar is a myth, and should be discarded. Since 1975, textbooks, the media and museums have emphasized this close similarity; but now, Cohen quoted a number of scientists who say the number cannot possibly be […]
Crisis at Both Ends of Darwins Tree
June 21, 2007
Two assumptions about evolution – one about the earliest multicellular organisms and one about the rise of mammals – have run into trouble. Eukarya sans Mechanista: “In the absence of direct evidence, science should proceed cautiously with conjecture,” wisely advised Anthony Poole and David Penny in Nature.1 They scorned the researchers who glibly invent fables […]
Genome Complexity Unveiled: No Junk, Only Function
June 15, 2007
Any remaining doubts that the idea of “junk DNA” has itself been junked should vanish under the latest findings about genome complexity. A number of recent news stories have revealed astonishing levels of regulation and organization in the non-coding regions of DNA. It turns out that genes are not the only interesting things in the […]
Origin of Multicellularity: Back to the Drawing Board
June 1, 2007
Micro-RNAs have been found in green algae. So? What’s the big deal? If you read the statements in Nature,1 it sounds like evolutionary biologists consider it a big, bad deal: The discovery, made independently by two labs, dismantles the popular theory that the regulatory role of microRNAs in gene expression is tied to the evolution […]
New Theory for Introns: Mutation Sponges
May 8, 2007
When you don’t know where damage will occur, it makes sense to spread the assets around. Scientists from City of Hope Medical Center (a cancer care and research institute) have a new idea about introns, those regions of DNA “junk“ between the more interesting exons (parts of genes). Perhaps the introns are mutation sponges. […]
New Genes Dont Fit Mr. Darwin
May 1, 2007
If evolutionists predicted the wealth of new data from genetics was going to fall nicely into an evolutionary picture of Darwin’s tree of life, nature has foiled them again. Ancestral patterns are blurred by unexpected findings, such as the following: Little giants: Small, simple. Large, complex. That’s the old high-school picture of genetic evolution, but […]