Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
(May 15, 2018 at 1:20 am)Wyrd of Gawd Wrote: How does a star that's initially composed of nothing but hydrogen atoms produce other elements such as oxygen, iron, and gold?
What does this have to do with life?
(May 14, 2018 at 12:04 am)ignoramus Wrote: 50% of our jink dna is the same as yeast. Remnants of billions of years of evolution.
Quote:Researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have determined how satellite DNA, considered to be "junk DNA," plays a crucial role in holding the genome together.
Their findings, published recently in the journal eLife, indicate that this genetic "junk" performs the vital function of ensuring that chromosomes bundle correctly inside the cell's nucleus, which is necessary for cell survival. And this function appears to be conserved across many species.
This pericentromeric satellite DNA consists of a very simple, highly repetitive sequence of genetic code. Although it accounts for a substantial portion of our genome, satellite DNA does not contain instructions for making any specific proteins. What's more, its repetitive nature is thought to make the genome less stable and more susceptible to damage or disease. Until fairly recently, scientists believed this so-called "junk" or "selfish" DNA did not serve any real purpose.
"But we were not quite convinced by the idea that this is just genomic junk," said Yukiko Yamashita, research professor at the LSI and lead author on the study. "If we don't actively need it, and if not having it would give us an advantage, then evolution probably would have gotten rid of it. But that hasn't happened."
Quote:Long stretches of DNA previously dismissed as "junk" are in fact crucial to the way our genome works, an international team of researchers said on Wednesday.
Have you forgotten that we are composed of atoms and assorted elements?
And what is the essential element that starts the entire process? Hydrogen.
