deoxyribonucleic news

[serenissima]

Here's a New York Times article about new things scientists are learning lately about how DNA works.
Now: The Rest of the Genome
Some of it confused me; I think I'd like a lengthier, clearer explanation. One interesting thing the article mentions is that prenatal conditions can affect an embryo's health and genetic material in a way that it does not inherit from its parents but can pass on to its offspring. The bottom line is, genetics is much stranger and more complicated than we were ever taught in school.

Comments

[firenightingale.livejournal.com]

Hmm, interesting stuff. Thanks for linking it. :o)

[zeeth_kyrah]

As I figured, DNA contains compressed data - apparently using a rather complex scheme. But then, I believe that the universe is rather more like a fractal than science yet knows; so perhaps it is a fractalic compression scheme. As a side note, JPEG is a fractalic compression scheme, but a lossy one. DNA is not lossy - but it is mutable, as this article shows.

[403.livejournal.com]

The bottom line is, genetics is much stranger and more complicated than we were ever taught in school.

The cool thing about the current rate of scientific discoveries is that it's stranger and more complicated than anyone knew when we were "in school".