Genome Entries 4

Chromosome 8: Self-Interest

Ridley begins by introducing the concept that genes are much more complicated than they need to be, with genetic information in sections called exons with intermittent random sections called introns. Reverse transcriptase is one that is not helpful at all to the human body, and aside from being the fuel for the AIDS virus, the gene exists because several genes use it to replicate themselves. Fortunately, humans possess a capacity to suppress and freeze these junk genes by a process called methylation. The reverse of this process is the first step in the development of cancer. Forensic scientists have found and proliferated a practical use for these junk genes called minisatellites, however, in genetic fingerprinting.

Citation:
Ridley, Matt. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. Print.