Science
Related: About this forumSecond layer of information in DNA confirmed
Leiden theoretical physicists have proven that DNA mechanics, in addition to genetic information in DNA, determines who we are. Helmut Schiessel and his group simulated many DNA sequences and found a correlation between mechanical cues and the way DNA is folded. They have published their results in PLoS One.
When James Watson and Francis Crick identified the structure of DNA molecules in 1953, they revealed that DNA information determines who we are. The sequence of the letters G, A, T and C in the famous double helix determines what proteins are made ny our cells. If you have brown eyes, for example, this is because a series of letters in your DNA encodes for proteins that build brown eyes. Each cell contains the exact same letter sequence, and yet every organ behaves differently. How is this possible?
Mechanical cues
Since the mid 1980s, it has been hypothesized that there is a second layer of information on top of the genetic code consisting of DNA mechanical properties. Each of our cells contains two meters of DNA molecules, and these molecules need to be wrapped up tightly to fit inside a single cell. The way in which DNA is folded determines how the letters are read out, and therefore which proteins are actually made. In each organ, only relevant parts of the genetic information are read. The theory suggests that mechanical cues within the DNA structures determine how preferentially DNA folds.
Simulation
For the first time, Leiden physicist Helmut Schiessel and his research group provide strong evidence that this second layer of information indeed exists. With their computer code, they have simulated the folding of DNA strands with randomly assigned mechanical cues. It turns out that these cues indeed determine how the DNA molecule is folded into so-called nucleosomes. Schiessel found correlations between the mechanics and the actual folding structure in the genome of two organismsbaker's yeast and fission yeast. This finding reveals evolutionary changes in DNAmutationsthat have two very different effects: The letter sequence encoding for a specific protein can change, or the mechanics of the DNA structure can change, resulting in different packaging and levels of DNA accessibility, and therefore differing frequency of production of that protein.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-06-layer-dna.html#jCp
Wounded Bear
(58,625 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(48,988 posts)Epigenetics is the key to why one identical twin might get cancer while the other does not. I think this discovery is epigenetics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics
Thanks for posting.
momto3
(662 posts)Epicene tics refers to the chemical modulation of the genome, whereas this is a mechanical process. They may have to come up with a new name. Mechano-genetics???
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Origami genetics.
momto3
(662 posts)cstanleytech
(26,276 posts)matryoshka nesting dolls + genetics
ArchTeryx
(221 posts)Epigenetics is the chemical modification of DNA in a manner that doesn't change the sequence - mostly adding methyl groups (CH3) or modifying the histones (the beads the DNA is wrapped around). That in turn causes the DNA to change its physical structure; heavily modified DNA tends to wrap itself much tighter and thus, isn't nearly as readable, while unmodified DNA is wrapped more loosely and can be read easier. It's a genetic effect that leads *to* a physical effect. This may just be the physics behind it.
momto3
(662 posts)You are right if you define epigenetics as any modification to the genetic code that does not involve changes in the base pairs. I have always thought of epigenetics as the chemical modulation of the DNA, such as methylation, that does not change the base pairs. Maybe I need to widen my internal definition of epigenetics. However, scientists do like to come up with new names for new phenomenon.
Peace.
ArchTeryx
(221 posts)Epigenetics IS chemical modification of DNA without changing the base pairs! The *end effect* is to change the physical structure of the DNA. Genes are kind of like modules of code with on/off switches and volume knobs on them. The epigenetic modifications are like both; they can subtly change how much that program is run, or prevent it from being run at all in extreme cases. (There are other things that can flip a gene 'on' or 'off' but that's Beyond the Scope).
It's also proving to be an enormous part of our adaptability; epigenetic changes happen a lot of faster then sequence-changing mutations, and *they can be inherited*. That has some frightening implications; a lot of the damage smoking does is being attributed to epigenetics, and same with inherited obesity. Quite a few cancers, including the most lethal ones (adult-onset leukemia, digestive cancers, aggressive breast cancers) also have a strong epigenetic component to them, which gives rise to the idea that it's a mechanism of cancer inheritance.
The good news is it might be much easier to TREAT epigenetic diseases then genetic ones. We already have biologic cancer drugs that attack cells with certain epigenetic modifications, and more are on the way. Gene therapy? Not so much (but we're working on it!).
Nitram
(22,776 posts)Epigenetics refers to the effects on the body of the environment outside the body. This is an expansion of our understanding of how (the mechanism) DNA makes us what we are. That's genetics. Instead of DNA working like a long scroll with words on it that are read in a linear fashion, it is more like a complex Moebius Strip folded back on itself in ways that influence how genes are expressed.
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)If the environmental cues change the coding cues, you have another level of possible adaptation which allows the same DNA to express differently in different environments.
Or you could take it as another mechanism of inheritance of acquired characteristics. Protein folding changes potentially explain a genetic puzzle:
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32637/title/Lamarck-and-the-Missing-Lnc/
muriel_volestrangler
(101,295 posts)having different effects on the shape of DNA and thus how it is expressed. It still springs from the ACGT sequence of the DNA bases.
The codon used can influence those subtle chemical properties of the DNA strand while still specifying the same amino acid. What that means is that codon usage in different sequences that code for exactly the same protein may have different mechanical properties.
Thats it! What the paper did was carry out simulations of variations in the sequence of a model strand of DNA, keeping the translation of the strand into protein constant, but using different alternative codons. It was an exercise in varying synonyms. For example, imagine a sentence like this:
...
But please, publicists: it is not a second layer of information. Everything in this paper was about modifying the nucleotide sequence, which is the same old primary heritable layer of information weve been talking about all along, and it isnt hidden or mysterious.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2016/06/12/the-science-press-release-hype-machine-claims-a-second-layer-of-information-in-dna/
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)In that case it also wasn't the genes themselves but molecules accompaning the DNA that made the difference. The molecules regulate how the DNA is read out and thus influence the rest of the cell.
The scientists wrote, they were able to predict homosexuality with 60% accuracy after a genetic screening, but they said they would need samples of brain-tissue from heterosexual and homosexual people to really test their theory.
EDIT: Those molecules are epigenetic markers. Thanks, Bernardo, I had forgotten the term.
valerief
(53,235 posts)Nice metaphor.
denbot
(9,899 posts)Quipu, the storage of data using the shape and patterns of knots.
gordianot
(15,237 posts)I would prefer it be quick like in the movies.
Nitram
(22,776 posts)Love the way science keeps giving!
packman
(16,296 posts)1. We are all not fucked up in some way what with the seemingly infinite combo's that nature can throw into the pot
2. We are all alike and not all that fucked up in the infinite combo that nature can throw into the pot
Moostache
(9,895 posts)The thing that always amazes me is the willingness of the moron crowd to say things like "Science takes more faith than religion...to 'believe' in evolution (or climate change, or the age of the Earth, or the <insert fundie nonsense here> for example.
I do not 'believe' in anything scientific because belief is not required! I accept theories based on evidence and I am awed by the vastness of the universe, the enormity of the variation and information and the infinitesimal nature of humanity in that scheme.
I prefer to think of 'life' (in all its general forms and in my being's specific experience of it) as one big, never ending experiment. The universe has brought the atoms which form the molecules which go on to form "me" together for this brief moment I consider "living". In less than the blink of an eye in cosmic time, the experiment that is "me" will end and be gone forever more. When these atoms and molecules cease to coalesce and drift away into other forms and other combinations, my hope is that something I experience during this interlude will go on and contribute to the ceaseless experiment of 'life'. The accumulation of excess material goods is very petty in this world view...comfort is great, but opulence is gauche and a waste of precious time...
The fact that others wish for piles of terrestrial material goods, or clouds and pearly gates and large humanoids with long white beards, or virgins and rivers of milk and honey, does not bother me - it only saddens me. The world of wonder that is beyond our current understanding is millions of times greater than the sum of our knowledge and experience to date, and adding to that insignificant total - in ANY way - would make for a better world in the end and represents a life well lived to me. YMMV!
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)..... the lesson of science is:
Things are more complicated than you ever imagined.
And I remember seeing a NOVA program (I think) called "The Ghost in Your Genes" (or something like that) which talked about the genes' "chemical environment" and how things that happened in the outside environment (epigenetic) to your ancestors affects how your DNA manifests itself.
so science lesson #2:
Seemingly unrelated things are intricately and complexly related in way you never thought.
*************************
Another undeniable fact:
Everything is on YouTube.
vkkv
(3,384 posts)AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)applegrove
(118,589 posts)was studying it.
Moostache
(9,895 posts)It was a cool thing to be able to utilize computing power from across the globe to help in that effort...even from gaming consoles!
applegrove
(118,589 posts)drray23
(7,627 posts)I remember it well. I had all my computers at home and those in my lab cranking out calculations when nobody was logged on.