RE: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)

['Chris de Morsella' via Everything List]

 

 

From: everything-list@googlegroups.com 
[mailto:everything-list@googlegroups.com] 

 

 

Chris,

Roger – what an interesting job, if you like reading this kind of stuff that is 
J

 

I knew about DNA being wound around a supporting matrix – e.g. the histones – 
but I never knew that this non-DNA structural protein had any interactions with 
the DNA Wrapped around it) that could control expressing sections of encoding 
DNA. Of course this implies that the histone does more than just provide a 
structural matrix for the DNA to become tightly packed in, and that was news to 
me.

I have been following epigenetic stuff for a while, especially well documented 
for the methylation pathway, but this appears to be yet a separate pathway for 
genomic expression and hereditary transmission of information. 

The story of heredity is getting more and more interesting. For example, check 
out the link to the story below; life (and living systems) seem like they have 
more levels of operation than previously believed.

 

Mothers can pass traits to offspring through bacteria's DNA, mouse study shows 
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150216125425.htm>  
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150216125425.htm

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

    Hi.  It's good that they have new studies confirming this stuff, but the 
looping of DNA into 3D structures inside the nucleus  has been known for 
awhile.   I think they're even starting to map these interactions just like the 
human genome project.  One of the methods they use is to crosslink the DNA in 
the nucleus so that the shape it's currently in is saved, and then sequence the 
crosslinked areas to identify the crosslinked segments of DNA.  But, I admit 
calling this a wormhole is kind of just good marketing.  I guess the everything 
list is kind of like a wormhole that brings together distant people so they can 
talk about "everything"! :-)

 

    Also, on the epigenetic inheritance thing via histones, it's also good that 
new studies are proving this stuff, but epigenetic changes (changes in gene 
expression caused by things other than changes to the DNA sequence) that can be 
inherited have also been known for 10 years or so.  So far, what they know are 
that these changes are caused by adding or removing methyl groups to the DNA 
bases or methyl and acetyl groups to the histones.  That affects how the genes 
are expressed.  These changes can be affected by the environment and your own 
activities (like exercise).   So, your descendants may thank you for exercising 
and eating right!

 

    The only reason I know some stuff about this is that I have kind of a weird 
job where I read biochem. articles all day and put the new stuff into a 
database. 

 

    See you!

 

                Roger 

 

                 

    


On Saturday, April 4, 2015 at 3:08:19 PM UTC-4, cdemorsella wrote:



-----Original Message----- 
From: everyth...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>  
[mailto:everyth...@googlegroups.com <javascript:> ] On Behalf Of Russell 
Standish 
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2015 1:44 PM 
To: 'Chris de Morsella' via Everything List 
Subject: Re: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?) 

Of course, this is what Australia's John Mattick has been saying for decades (I 
heard him talk on this nearly 15 years ago, for instance, and he'd been railing 
at the establishment sometime before that). 

>> But "wormholes"? Really? Someone in marketing has been given far too liberal 
>> a rein. 

They're always on the hunt for that catchy title aren't they; I find them 
amusing :)   
Still, in seriousness, it's an interesting idea: that previously overlooked, 
non-local effects,  naturally operating within an organisms DNA may be playing 
a more fundamental role in life than previously believed (or even considered to 
be occurring at all) 
Chris 

Cheers 


On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 05:26:16PM +0000, 'Chris de Morsella' via Everything 
List wrote: 
> [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). 
> 
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