[Have been very busy on a new software project and have not had time to follow and participate on this list... such an active list :). ] Came across this article and found it interesting also from an information science point of view -- taking the perspective of DNA being a fairly dynamic information repository. It seems like the butterfly effect is operating in DNA... a small difference one place can result in effects being triggered in very distant DNA locations... or as the researchers said... kind of like a wormhole.-Chris
Cancer risk linked to DNA ‘wormholes’ February 25, 2015 Single-letter genetic variations within parts of the genome once dismissed as “junk DNA” can increase cancer risk through remote effects on far-off genes, new research by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London shows.The researchers found that DNA sequences within “gene deserts” — so called because they are completely devoid of genes — can regulate gene activity elsewhere by forming DNA loops across relatively large distances.The study helps solve a mystery about how genetic variations in parts of the genome that don’t appear to be doing very much can increase cancer risk.Their study, published in Nature Communications, also has implications for the study of other complex genetic diseases.The researchers developed a technique called Capture Hi-C to investigate long-range physical interactions between stretches of DNA – allowing them to look at how specific areas of chromosomes interact physically in more detail.The researchers assessed 14 regions of DNA that contain single-letter variations previously linked to bowel cancer risk. They detected significant long-range interactions for all 14 regions, confirming their role in gene regulation.“Our new technique shows that genetic variations are able to increase cancer risk through long-range looping interactions with cancer-causing genes elsewhere in the genome,” study leader Professor Richard Houlston, Professor of Molecular and Population Genetics at The Institute of Cancer Research, London said.“It is sometimes described as analogous to a wormhole, where distortions in space and time could in theory bring together distant parts of the universe.”The research was funded by the EU, Cancer Research UK, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
