Questions about life can be answered in the context of what sustains it. 1) Answers must explain the diversity of life. 2) The diversity of life may help to explain the purpose of life. 3) Explaining the purpose of life may assist anyone who does not think they will live forever. 4) Answers to questions … Questions about life’s diversity
The Neanderthals live on in us March 13, 2015 Excerpt: “He opted instead for a medical degree and then a PhD at the University of Uppsala, where he was supposed to be probing the DNA secrets of a virus.” My comment: If he had done what he was supposed to be doing, he might have … UV-light mutations and gene loss (not gain)
March 2015: ChemoSense; see Timothy S. McClintock: “Odorant Receptor Gene Choice” He concludes: “The epigenetic control of OR gene expression through repression and de-repression is a remarkable story, and as a fundamental mechanism intimately associated with the random differentiation of a neural progenitor cell into multiple neuronal subtypes, one wonders whether it might be a … RNA-directed gene choice
Study details microRNA’s role as a double agent during Hep C infection By coopting miRNA-122, the virus appears to alter gene expression in the liver Excerpt: “What if chronic low levels of miRNA-122 prompt changes that, over years, contribute to liver damage and cancer? This could be a molecular link between the viral infection and … Two types of microRNA are not double agents
Thanks to Joost G. Wouters for the alert to this nonsense: 1) Michael White in Pacific Standard magazine flatly states that “Epigenetics Is Not Revolutionizing Biology.” 2) Adrian Bird points out in the journal Cell that many of the field’s assumptions and promises remain unproven and are perhaps excessive. 1) White’s article sketches the field’s … Epigenetics Skeptism
Chiral recognition and selection during the self-assembly process of protein-mimic macroanions Abstract excerpt: “We believe that delicate long-range electrostatic interactions could be responsible for such high-level chiral recognition and selection.” Article excerpt: “This self-assembly allows relatively simple building blocks to organize themselves into larger supramolecular structures, a phenomenon that has parallels with the formation of … Assembling yourself: Molecular self / other recognition
A sex researcher who typically fails to respond to my comments and questions recently noted that: “New species are only supposed to arise when a population separates into two.” She asked: “So what’s going on with the birds on tiny Santa Cruz Island?” I would have been happy to tell her — if ever she … What about birds?
Genome-wide CRISPR Screen in a Mouse Model of Tumor Growth and Metastasis Reported as: In vivo CRISPR-Cas9 screen sheds light on cancer metastasis and tumor evolution Excerpt: “Unexpectedly, the screen also implicated several microRNAs — small RNA segments that are functional in the cell. More experimental work remains to fully explore the genes and microRNAs … Implicating microRNAs in cancer
See for review: Let there be anti-entropic light (1) Squid are hyper-editors when it comes to RNA This is a great summary of what is currently known about anti-entropic light and nutrient-dependent RNA-mediated pheromone-controlled cell type differentiation. Excerpt: “During RNA editing, specific enzymes alter nucleotides in mRNA transcripts so that the resulting protein differs … Reverse phosphorylation
Discoveries in 3-D Genome Make-Up and Genetic Changes: Clarification of differences amidst chromosome pairs and how gene expression is effected by chromosome folding Excerpt: “…offers a useful guide for future studies of the epigenome’s function in our evolution and diseases that beset us.” My comment: The guide is also useful because it shows how the … From 3-D to epigenetically-effected 4-D genome make-up
