[ExI] DNA - It's complicated!

[BillK]

Scientists discover double meaning in genetic code
December 12, 2013    UW Health Sciences and UW Medicine

<http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/12/12/scientists-discover-double-meaning-in-genetic-code/>

Quote:
Scientists have discovered a second code hiding within DNA. This
second code contains information that changes how scientists read the
instructions contained in DNA and interpret mutations to make sense of
health and disease.

“For over 40 years we have assumed that DNA changes affecting the
genetic code solely impact how proteins are made,” said
Stamatoyannopoulos. “Now we know that this basic assumption about
reading the human genome missed half of the picture. These new
findings highlight that DNA is an incredibly powerful information
storage device, which nature has fully exploited in unexpected ways.”
“The fact that the genetic code can simultaneously write two kinds of
information means that many DNA changes that appear to alter protein
sequences may actually cause disease by disrupting gene control
programs or even both mechanisms simultaneously,” said
Stamatoyannopoulos.
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Forbes has a good overview of the new research.

<http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/12/13/seven-ways-to-look-at-the-double-meaning-of-dna-code/>

Quote:

Human DNA Is Not A Document, It's An App
For so long we have considered the genetic code to be something like a
book to be read, a recipe for making proteins. This new discovery
makes me think that DNA is actually less like a document and more like
an app. These transcription factors bind to to specific sequences of
DNA right next to the genes that they regulate. So we can think of
these TFs as kinds of functions that employ certain logic to turn the
transcription of genetic material on and off and to regulate its
speed. This reminds me of the reactive data bindings in the JavaScript
app framework called Meteor. In effect, the TF binds to all areas
producing a certain type of protein in a certain cell line (the scope
of the function) and keeps them all coordinated in real time.

DNA As Playing Battleship
The dual-functioning nature of some DNA code puts us in a curious
position when trying to determine, for instance, genetic factors of
disease (think of the troubles of 23andMe.) In the present scenario,
it is as if we have been playing a game of Battleship looking at the
known position of our pieces (the genes), but not of the positions of
the duons that contain the code of the TFs. And it turns out that the
correlation between genes associated with a given disease and
co-located TFs will be likely spots for aiming the big guns at.

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I think that they are saying that 23andMe's view that certain genes
are risk factors for disease is too simplistic.


BillK