In territories and compartments, we are told, throughout the interior:
Scientists at Caltech may have sounded the final death knell for the “junk DNA” myth. If only Dan Graur had known this years ago, it might have saved a lot of wasted rhetoric. ENCODE, readers recall, found that 80 percent of the genome is transcribed, even if only a small part codes for proteins. The functions of those non-coding regions were only hinted at. Now, the windows are opening on organization so all-encompassing for all those non-coding RNA transcripts, it is truly mind-boggling what goes on in the nucleus of a cell.
Using a new survey tool they call RD-SPRITE, Caltech researchers, in cooperation with others at USC and UCLA, mapped the spatial organization of all the DNA and RNA in the nucleus. It was challenging, they admit, to explore the spatial roles of RNA transcripts that don’t produce proteins, because the nucleus is a dynamic place crowded with DNA, proteins, and numerous RNAs of unknown function.
News, “Caltech Finds Amazing Role for Noncoding DNA” at Evolution News and Science Today (December 3, 2021)
Dan Graur? Oh, he’s the one who refused to “do politeness” any more about the ENCODE findings years ago that cast doubt on junk DNA. Wasn’t he also the one who said, if ENCODE is right, evolution is wrong? We won’t hold him to it. The world is too busy getting past Darwin to bother.
You may also wish to read: France’s Biology Year: Reimagining evolution as horizontal gene transfer It’s probably not anywhere near as simple and certain as Catherine Jessus is making out. Viruses don’t likely do enough to create placentas. But the main point is, this definitely isn’t yer old biology teacher’s Split-the-Desk Rant for Darwin!!! Stay tuned.