From: Joel Pitt (joel.pitt@gmail.com)
Date: Sun May 14 2006 - 21:26:27 MDT
On 5/15/06, Mike Dougherty <msd001@gmail.com> wrote:
> Is the human genome a self-referential program code? Though I cannot seem
<snip>
> Is it plausible that these "unknown format" sequences could be instructions
> that are parsed above the biomechanical level? Could there be a "rendering
> agent" that is acting on the aggregate of these sequences? Are we looking
> at the Bits of DNA looking for Bytes and missing the Words? Could these
> sequences be Turing rules for how to rewrite the tape containing the rules?
> If the currently understood mechanics of DNA are the rules for manipulating
> the substrate (biological nano replication) - is it possible these unknown
> sequences encode either the sourcecode of the software on the substrate or
> the current working memory (RAM) of the running program itself?
DNA which does not directly translate into proteins or other
substrates is used to control the expression of genes. Some bits of
DNA attract enzymes for replication whereas other bits attract
molecules that prevent the DNA transcription machinery from getting to
"coding DNA". DNA also forms structures with itself based on base
patterns and composition - these structures can affect enzymes that
interact with DNA.
I recently worked on a pattern matching algorithm for a genetics lab.
It looked it for a certain type of repetitive sequence which they
linked with crossover mutation hotspots. So the uncoding regions can
also be used for controlling rates of mutation in a population - in
effect acting at a functionally adaptive level above the individual.
So in short, yes it is possible since we already know some non coding
DNA isn't just junk, but I doubt it is very standardized and the
matching of sequences is fuzzy. DNA isn't isn't an exact language -
kind of like english :)
-Joel
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