RE: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)
From: everything-list@googlegroups.com [mailto:everything-list@googlegroups.com] Subject: Re: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?) Chris, Hi. It sounds like you might be in computing since you mentioned some terms like "reposited" (I've never heard of that in bio!)? Yeah I write software for a living… and reposited is a pretty common jargon (that implicitly abstracts the particular details of whatever repository behind the notion of a repository interface). If so, you are very well educated in biology. Nice job! Your knowledge of the complexity of a cell and of things moving around via motor proteins and the cytoskeleton as opposed to diffusion only, etc. are real impressive. Many of the computer and engineering guys I know seem to be allergic to biology knowledge. Although, I admit I know almost nothing about computing either, except for stuff from a few simple classes in Pascal, Fortran, etc. a long, long time ago. I have long been fascinated with biology – being a biological entity myself J I'd never heard of that model where they ran it backwards to find the genesis of life, but it sounds pretty neat. I think it's certainly possible that life started in a far away stellar nursery and then came to Earth on a comet or something. Although, I kind of liked that Star Trek (The Next Gen.) episode where some ancient race of bald people seeded lots of different oceans with their DNA and put a code in their that, once we decipher it, will play a video of the bald people talking to us. I thought that was one of their best episodes. But, the final question is still there. How did the life originate where ever it came from? I can't rule out anything, but I bet they'll be able to someday figure out a chemical mechanism for things to start replicating themselves. I think that we are closing in on this and that within a decade or two – if we don’t blow ourselves up beforehand – we will be able to do genesis in the lab. Already Craig Venter’s group is getting close to creating synthetic life – albeit within an existing de-natured cell that’s had its own DNA removed. See: http://www.ted.com/talks/craig_venter_is_on_the_verge_of_creating_synthetic_life?language=en Just read an article today shown that micro-strands of DNA can self-assemble in liquid crystals. Quoting from the article: “The new research demonstrates that the spontaneous self-assembly of DNA fragments just a few nanometers in length into ordered liquid crystal phases has the ability to drive the formation of chemical bonds that connect together short DNA chains to form long ones, without the aid of biological mechanisms. Liquid crystals are a form of matter that has properties between those of conventional liquids and those of a solid crystal—a liquid crystal may flow like a liquid, for example, but its molecules may be oriented more like a crystal. "Our observations are suggestive of what may have happened on the early Earth when the first DNA-like <http://phys.org/tags/molecular+fragments/> molecular fragments appeared," said Clark. <http://phys.org/news/2015-04-hints-spontaneous-primordial-dna.html#jCp> http://phys.org/news/2015-04-hints-spontaneous-primordial-dna.html#jCp One big advantage that computing and engineering have over drug discovery is that the scientist can design a system he or she wants to make when it's code or a chip or something. But, because everything is so wet, bouncing around, cross-reacting and "squishy" in bio, it's hard to design things to work just the way you want them. Cells are always mutating, proteins are always moving around and chemicals are always cross-reacting. I think we'll eventually need to combine small mol. drugs and biological drugs with nanotechnological devices and tiny molecular computers to cure diseases. But that is also what makes it so interesting and also unfathomable at times. J Chris I checked out that article on microbes being passed from generation to generation. It was very interesting; although, it kind of sounded like it was passed via an environmental route because the next generation of animals lived in the same environment as the previous generation, and the microbes are probably all over the environment in the form of feces, shed fur, surfaces, animals touching each other, etc. I'd have to read more about it, but it sounded like not quite a direct mechanism of transmission. One more pontification, and I promise I'll stop, but I think some of the physics guys could learn from biochemists because biochemists are always looking for mechanisms of action for how things work. But, it seems like the physicists are more content to say something works and we have the math to describe it. For instance, I don't think they really know even why positive
Re: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)
> *Subject:* Re: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?) > > Chris, > Hi. It sounds like you might be in computing since you mentioned some terms like "reposited" (I've never heard of that in bio!)? If so, you are very well educated in biology. Nice job! Your knowledge of the complexity of a cell and of things moving around via motor proteins and the cytoskeleton as opposed to diffusion only, etc. are real impressive. Many of the computer and engineering guys I know seem to be allergic to biology knowledge. Although, I admit I know almost nothing about computing either, except for stuff from a few simple classes in Pascal, Fortran, etc. a long, long time ago. I'd never heard of that model where they ran it backwards to find the genesis of life, but it sounds pretty neat. I think it's certainly possible that life started in a far away stellar nursery and then came to Earth on a comet or something. Although, I kind of liked that Star Trek (The Next Gen.) episode where some ancient race of bald people seeded lots of different oceans with their DNA and put a code in their that, once we decipher it, will play a video of the bald people talking to us. I thought that was one of their best episodes. But, the final question is still there. How did the life originate where ever it came from? I can't rule out anything, but I bet they'll be able to someday figure out a chemical mechanism for things to start replicating themselves. One big advantage that computing and engineering have over drug discovery is that the scientist can design a system he or she wants to make when it's code or a chip or something. But, because everything is so wet, bouncing around, cross-reacting and "squishy" in bio, it's hard to design things to work just the way you want them. Cells are always mutating, proteins are always moving around and chemicals are always cross-reacting. I think we'll eventually need to combine small mol. drugs and biological drugs with nanotechnological devices and tiny molecular computers to cure diseases. I checked out that article on microbes being passed from generation to generation. It was very interesting; although, it kind of sounded like it was passed via an environmental route because the next generation of animals lived in the same environment as the previous generation, and the microbes are probably all over the environment in the form of feces, shed fur, surfaces, animals touching each other, etc. I'd have to read more about it, but it sounded like not quite a direct mechanism of transmission. One more pontification, and I promise I'll stop, but I think some of the physics guys could learn from biochemists because biochemists are always looking for mechanisms of action for how things work. But, it seems like the physicists are more content to say something works and we have the math to describe it. For instance, I don't think they really know even why positive and negative charges attract or two positive charges repel, do they? I know there are fields of force, and exchange of photons (or other force particles for other forces), but how exactly does this lead to attraction or repulsion? I admit I know very little about it, but this kind of thing frustrates me when reading popular physics articles. In their defense, though, force particles are much smaller than proteins! At least, Monday is over! Have a good week. Roger -- 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
RE: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)
From: everything-list@googlegroups.com [mailto:everything-list@googlegroups.com] Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2015 7:58 PM To: everything-list@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?) Chris, Hi. It is kind of an interesting job in that I can keep up with the latest stuff and I do find the idea of organizing scientific information very interesting. But, it can be a little boring sometimes, too. But, I guess most people would say that about their jobs, though. Epigenetics is pretty neat. When the histones are methylated/demethylated and acetylated/deacetylated by various enzymes, this can cause the DNA wrapped around them to become less or more compact, which affects how the genes in that area are expressed. You're sure right about their finding more levels of operation than ever before. Since they developed what they call "next generation sequencing" about 2005 or so, they've been able to find out a lot more levels in all areas. One thing that's kind of neat is that the supposedly junk DNA between genes can encode small RNAs that regulate the expression of the genes. These "microRNAs" are really a hot area of research now. Another big breakthrough was the combination of various techniques to make very large scale analysis of proteins (proteomics) possible. So, they're combining gene expression, protein studies, epigenetics, etc. to see how it all fits together in the body. They call that systems biology, and it's bringing more progress. But, there are so many interacting molecules inside a single cel, they've got a long way to go. Life seems to use whatever pathways (and combinations of pathways) it can leverage in order to transmit – over many layered systems of encoding (even within DNA itself) – the complex and dynamically responsive best response. I suspect the multi-layered dimension of heredity provides it with greater meta-stability than a system, exclusively reposited (comp term for the act of being stored within a repository) within a single mechanism. Have you heard about the computer model they ran in which they used the pretty well known well sampled current diversity of life on the planet in combination with the also pretty well known rates of mutation for life on earth and using these rates (and admittedly extrapolating backward in time based on the application of these rates of mutation) they ran the model backwards to discover the singularity… the moment of genesis so to speak of life. The answer they got was entirely unexpected. Based on all the parameters for their model, which were well checked – e.g. current planetary genetic diversity, recursively getting applied to a rewinding function based on known rates of mutation. – the genesis of earth life, according to this model is some eight billion years ago – that being four billion years before our star first formed in its birth cloud. Raises some interesting speculation as to the origins of life. Maybe life really is seeded everywhere in those great stellar nurseries and every newborn star (+whirling accretion disk that is not swept away by the energetic wave front powered by the star as it lights up) is seeded with icy cometary spores, bearing microbial life Often people think of microbes as miniscule blobs, which of course they also are, but the levels and depth of levels of complexity operating within, even a single microbe are stunning and hard to grasp and understand all together. I really like the systems approach that the wave front of research seems to be focusing on. Reductivism is fine, and has yielded impressive results in some areas, but somethings are best understood from the dynamic whole-systems viewpoint. Even just a single organelle in a cell is amazing molecular machinery… take a ribosome for example… or the complex lipid interface of the cell wall. The level of nanoscale sophistication in a single microbe is impressive. By far most evolution happened before multicellular creatures evolved. All multicellular life is the result of a symbiosis of earlier life forms (some like the mitochondria seeming like symbionts that took up cellular residence, a long time ago, preserving their own DNA). But even just a single ribosome is a molecular factory of incredible complexity, where the protein folding magic goes on. A ribosome is around 40% RNA by weight and has all kinds of different RNA variants doing many different things, interacting with animo acids, assembling proteins, QA-ing them and destroying faulty product… a very sophisticated muli-step process. It would not surprise me in the least if they discover that ribosomes themselves have some kind of run-time RNA based OS – a kind of frontline processing unit right there in the protein assembly plant. Cells also have very fine scale highly branched networks within their own cellu
Re: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)
d. 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 [mailto:everyth...@googlegroups.com] 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 +, '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). > > > > -- > > 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 everything-li...@googlegroups.com. > > To post to this group, send email to everyth...@googlegroups.com. > > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > >
RE: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)
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 [mailto:everyth...@googlegroups.com ] 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 +, '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 sequ
Re: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)
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 [mailto: > everyth...@googlegroups.com ] 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 +, '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-ran
RE: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)
-Original Message- From: everything-list@googlegroups.com [mailto:everything-list@googlegroups.com] 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 +, '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). > > -- > 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics hpco...@hpcoders.com.au University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au Latest project: The Amoeba's Secret (http://www.hpcoders.com.au/AmoebasSecret.html) -- 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http:/
Re: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)
Eek! Now I'm worried that if protein folding goes just a bit too far, my cells will collapse into a black hole. -- 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
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. Cheers On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 05:26:16PM +, '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). > > -- > 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics hpco...@hpcoders.com.au University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au Latest project: The Amoeba's Secret (http://www.hpcoders.com.au/AmoebasSecret.html) -- 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
RE: DNA Wormholes can cause cancer (what!?)
[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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
