Friday, November 30, 2007
IMPRINTED GENES and MLM
GENES; DNA; MLM; IMPRINTED GENES
Duke scientists map imprinted genes in human genome
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/dumc-dsm112607.php
The article under this link deals with so called imprinted genes. I myself prefer the word silencing when necessary, but most of all I like different idea of explaining the fact that some genes sometimes work and sometimes do not. As it is put in the above mentioned article they turn on and off over time.
My idea is that the whole problem is a problem of coding, reasonable coding of information so that it can be passed over to the next generation and this generation can make use of such inherited information. There must be a system of information that does not change remarkably, e.g. that fact that humans have two legs and two arms, two eyes, etc. But it can differ in size, color etc. Then there must be also information about different traits that are helpful for survival. Some snakes e.g. when just half out of their egg and when attacked by predator can pretend to be dead, and give a stinking odor out of their mouth to pretend decaying. This is really helpful as the predator leaves. This behavioral information must be stored as well in DNA, not in genes most probably but aside of genes, in epigenome.
As the complexity of organism increases so must also increase the complexity of information storing. This must include the volume, size and number of information as well as the system of storing. The more information is stored the more the organism is in bad need to organize this storing in a more developed and complex way.
As a simple example, just imagine your home book shelf and huge senate library, for sure they are organized differently. The same system applies for comparing storage of spare parts in a small one man pc repair shop and the system of storing parts at DELL Company. One might think of many more such examples. All of them show one thing: the more information must be stored the more sophisticated system of storing is necessary.
The “imprinted genes” express maybe only one level of such storing of information. That level that permits for turning some genes on or off according to some other information, maybe even information perceived from the outside world. Like the agouti mouse or experiments with some flies that when exposed to ether developed four wings instead of two as usual.
This basic principle of storing information and passing it over to the next generation is relatively easy to understand, what will be a major problem is how to find out when what genes are active under what outside conditions and in what organisms.
I predict several-level memory, that I call MLM, multi-level memory, where certain information is stored at its level depending on its value for organism. The first question is how organism can recognize that certain information is or is not important. The only correct answer must be the number of repetitions of a certain event. Actually the development of eye, so often used by many scientists to show the development, is a good example for this many fold repetition principle. If there was some light, and it was, and it changed with darkness, which it did too, then there might be some importance in using this light signal. It may have been linked to the feel of warmth too. It also may have helped the organism to orient better in the surroundings.
The first stage was only a part of a cell that got light sensitive; it could recognize light on light off only. But as this information got repeated many times, there may have developed the second stage of it, soft recognizing of shapes, maybe recognizing of size etc. In order to get more precise information based on light, the light sensitive part had to further specialize and get better and be able to make the difference from what direction the light or shadow is coming form. In order to do that the light sensitive part had to become concave not flat.
The complete development of eye can be found in scientific literature and also in internet, so I see no need to repeat it here. What is important here is the fact of multi-level memory organization of DNA, and how it came to being.
In humans we have further much more sophisticated systems of storing information, cultural information as well. Many scientists speak about the inborn ability of a human child to learn a language. Well, this again might be due to MLM, multi-level memory, because the ability to communicate in words is so important and it has happened many times in last about 20 to 30 000 years, where scientists suppose the real beginning of human language communication. So this experience has been repeated maybe over one or more thousand generations which in turn can be enough for storing this information in DNA. Then it appears to us as a inborn ability of a child to grasp language of her/his parents. Actually, the first attempts to communicate may be much older, maybe sever hundred thousands years, in some animals, say sharks, that are told to live and look like today as they did some 200 million years ago.
Duke scientists map imprinted genes in human genome
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/dumc-dsm112607.php
The article under this link deals with so called imprinted genes. I myself prefer the word silencing when necessary, but most of all I like different idea of explaining the fact that some genes sometimes work and sometimes do not. As it is put in the above mentioned article they turn on and off over time.
My idea is that the whole problem is a problem of coding, reasonable coding of information so that it can be passed over to the next generation and this generation can make use of such inherited information. There must be a system of information that does not change remarkably, e.g. that fact that humans have two legs and two arms, two eyes, etc. But it can differ in size, color etc. Then there must be also information about different traits that are helpful for survival. Some snakes e.g. when just half out of their egg and when attacked by predator can pretend to be dead, and give a stinking odor out of their mouth to pretend decaying. This is really helpful as the predator leaves. This behavioral information must be stored as well in DNA, not in genes most probably but aside of genes, in epigenome.
As the complexity of organism increases so must also increase the complexity of information storing. This must include the volume, size and number of information as well as the system of storing. The more information is stored the more the organism is in bad need to organize this storing in a more developed and complex way.
As a simple example, just imagine your home book shelf and huge senate library, for sure they are organized differently. The same system applies for comparing storage of spare parts in a small one man pc repair shop and the system of storing parts at DELL Company. One might think of many more such examples. All of them show one thing: the more information must be stored the more sophisticated system of storing is necessary.
The “imprinted genes” express maybe only one level of such storing of information. That level that permits for turning some genes on or off according to some other information, maybe even information perceived from the outside world. Like the agouti mouse or experiments with some flies that when exposed to ether developed four wings instead of two as usual.
This basic principle of storing information and passing it over to the next generation is relatively easy to understand, what will be a major problem is how to find out when what genes are active under what outside conditions and in what organisms.
I predict several-level memory, that I call MLM, multi-level memory, where certain information is stored at its level depending on its value for organism. The first question is how organism can recognize that certain information is or is not important. The only correct answer must be the number of repetitions of a certain event. Actually the development of eye, so often used by many scientists to show the development, is a good example for this many fold repetition principle. If there was some light, and it was, and it changed with darkness, which it did too, then there might be some importance in using this light signal. It may have been linked to the feel of warmth too. It also may have helped the organism to orient better in the surroundings.
The first stage was only a part of a cell that got light sensitive; it could recognize light on light off only. But as this information got repeated many times, there may have developed the second stage of it, soft recognizing of shapes, maybe recognizing of size etc. In order to get more precise information based on light, the light sensitive part had to further specialize and get better and be able to make the difference from what direction the light or shadow is coming form. In order to do that the light sensitive part had to become concave not flat.
The complete development of eye can be found in scientific literature and also in internet, so I see no need to repeat it here. What is important here is the fact of multi-level memory organization of DNA, and how it came to being.
In humans we have further much more sophisticated systems of storing information, cultural information as well. Many scientists speak about the inborn ability of a human child to learn a language. Well, this again might be due to MLM, multi-level memory, because the ability to communicate in words is so important and it has happened many times in last about 20 to 30 000 years, where scientists suppose the real beginning of human language communication. So this experience has been repeated maybe over one or more thousand generations which in turn can be enough for storing this information in DNA. Then it appears to us as a inborn ability of a child to grasp language of her/his parents. Actually, the first attempts to communicate may be much older, maybe sever hundred thousands years, in some animals, say sharks, that are told to live and look like today as they did some 200 million years ago.
# posted by Dalibor @ 8:17 AM 
