- Jun 28, 2011
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We may have yet another code to add to Jonathan Wells’s growing list of information systems in the cell that challenge the Central Dogma. A new discovery hints at a “shape code” in the double helix.....
....Recognition of this new source of epigenetic information suggests a “new way of practicing biology,” they say.
"The discovery of the mechanisms involved of DNA binding by Polycomb is one of the first concrete examples in which the shape of DNA plays a more important role for the protein’s functioning than the code contained in the DNA. It turns out that the protein can only bind to the DNA helix if the latter is relatively unwound. Veenstra: “Because the DNA-binding protein does not bind to a specific sequence in the DNA, it was difficult to find the working mechanism of the protein using regular research methods.” This mechanism had been actively sought by many people in the field for the past twenty years."
What a surprise, they don’t have much to say about evolution. The only mention in the paper concerned pressure against it. The caption in Figure 2 says:
"The lysine rich region (K-rich) of MTF2 is well conserved among vertebrates compared to the other PCL proteins in mouse (a), suggesting an evolutionary pressure against mutation in this area. "
What we appear to be observing in this case is another layer of information riding on top of the sequence, governing how the genetic sequences are regulated epigenetically. A design-oriented approach may yet uncover additional instances where the shape of the double helix governs how it is read.
https://evolutionnews.org/2018/06/more-information-found-in-dna-the-shape-code/
....Recognition of this new source of epigenetic information suggests a “new way of practicing biology,” they say.
"The discovery of the mechanisms involved of DNA binding by Polycomb is one of the first concrete examples in which the shape of DNA plays a more important role for the protein’s functioning than the code contained in the DNA. It turns out that the protein can only bind to the DNA helix if the latter is relatively unwound. Veenstra: “Because the DNA-binding protein does not bind to a specific sequence in the DNA, it was difficult to find the working mechanism of the protein using regular research methods.” This mechanism had been actively sought by many people in the field for the past twenty years."
What a surprise, they don’t have much to say about evolution. The only mention in the paper concerned pressure against it. The caption in Figure 2 says:
"The lysine rich region (K-rich) of MTF2 is well conserved among vertebrates compared to the other PCL proteins in mouse (a), suggesting an evolutionary pressure against mutation in this area. "
What we appear to be observing in this case is another layer of information riding on top of the sequence, governing how the genetic sequences are regulated epigenetically. A design-oriented approach may yet uncover additional instances where the shape of the double helix governs how it is read.
https://evolutionnews.org/2018/06/more-information-found-in-dna-the-shape-code/