Possibly... it has been shown with methylation. But I think the mechanism you're proposing could not involve methylation because (someone can correct me if wrong) methylation is only applicable to coding regions (methyl group only added to specific DNA sequences that mark the gene). That's not to say another switching mechanism on non-coding regions could not also be heritable (i.e., reproduced in the copied DNA strand).
Using DNA switches (such as methylation) is more tractable than DNA rewriting, but again, the amount of information storage is the limiting factor. Indeed, switching on and off sections of DNA implies a big reduction in information capacity (as compared to DNA rewriting), since gene switching applies to sections of DNA. I wonder how much memory would you expect to be able to pass on through this mechanism? Also, you would need to propose the mechanism by which this form of storage would be "read". Since junk DNA by definition doesn't code for anything, by what mechanism would these switches have an effect on cellular, neural, or otherwise cognitive processes? Terren --- On Wed, 12/3/08, Richard Loosemore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ah, hang on folks: what I was meaning was that the *state* > of the junk DNA was being used, not the code. > > I am referring to the stuff that is dynamically > interacting, as a result of which genes are switched on and > off all over the place .... so this is a gigantic network of > switches. > > I wouldn't suggest that something is snipping and > recombining the actual code of the "junk" DNA, > only that the state of the switches is being used to code > for something. > > Question is: can the state of the switches be preserved > during reproduction? > > > > Richard Loosemore > > > ------------------------------------------- > agi > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now > RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ > Modify Your Subscription: > https://www.listbox.com/member/?&; > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=120640061-aded06 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
