Attracting Abundance
- 113 -
The Law
Belief - XXV
The belief that genes determined character of life - genetic determination - was based on the tenet that there is one gene for every type of protein. There are 100,000 types of proteins which have been identified so far. Besides there are another 20,000 types of regulator proteins. Hence as per the earlier belief there should have been 120,000, or near about, genes. The biologist's world was shaken when they could identify no more than 25,000 genes (Pennis et al, Science,2003, Pearson, 2003). The missing genes complicated matters. How do the complex functions and behaviors of a human being, who is at the top of the evolution tree, get managed when enough genes are not available to make the proteins necessary for survival of a human being? The number of genes was found to almost equal to the number of gene present in a rodent. So the genes did not explain the complexity of a human being.
We have learnt that a single cell have intelligence to control execution of all functions necessary for its survival. That intelligence resides in a "brain" in the cell. Now if gene is the controller of the functions of a cell, then the natural conclusion is that the gene should be the brain. This belief was maintained till 2005. In 2005, experiments were conducted in which the nucleus was removed from the cell under a microscope. The expectation was that the cell would die in the absence of its brain, but lo behold! the cell went on living. It continued to breathe, digest, excrete and move. It was not able to do two functions; it stopped producing daughter cells and it stopped making new proteins. This was understandable as it had lost its genetic code along with the nucleus. It died after more than two months as it was no longer creating new proteins to replace the dilapidated ones. So the brain was not inside the nucleus. The Gene was not the brain. It had the capability to reproduce.
When the biologists explored the chromosome, they found that half of it was the genetic material, DNA, and the other half was proteins. These proteins are called regulatory proteins. In the chromosome, the DNA formed the core and the proteins covered the DNA like a full sleeve shirt covers your arm. Thus the DNA was inaccessible to any prying eye. For reading the DNA, the sleeve has to be removed first which requires a signal from the environment. So the sequence is first a signal comes from the environment which exposes the DNA, the genetic code in the DNA is then replicated to make new proteins and for division to daughter cells. The regulatory proteins expose the genetic code selectively, and the exposed code is replicated in different combinations to form different types of proteins. It is to the credit of the regulatory proteins that the code in each gene can form 2000 to 3000 type of proteins by selectively hiding and exposing different parts of the genetic code of a gene. This also bridges the gap between the number of genes and types of proteins. By the way, research work carried out in 2014 reveals that a human being contains about 19,000 genes and not 25,000 as thought earlier ( Madhoosoodanan, 2014, The Scientist). This is way below the 24,000 genes in a rodent.
Many a research papers have been published as recent as 2015 (Preidt, 2015, US News and World Report, Goldman, 2015, Science Daily and more), which point to environment as the influencing factor, and not genes, that dictates the human immune system.
Ernest Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel, Ernest Haeckel in short, was a German biologist, who in his time had discovered thousands of new species and mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms in 1879. Haeckel promoted and popularized Darwin's work in Germany The figure is an example of the many diagrams drawn by Ernest Haeckel on the evolutionary stages of life on the planet earth. These diagrams are popularly known as the "Tree of Life". The tree has the bacteria at its base or trunk and man adorning the topmost branches. This tree is a classic example of the dominant belief of primacy of DNA i.e. as the life form grows up the tree of evolution, the number of genes increase. With the revelation that a human being contains less genes that much lower life forms, this belief has gone for a toss.
Namaste
Phir milenge
Prabir
.
We have learnt that a single cell have intelligence to control execution of all functions necessary for its survival. That intelligence resides in a "brain" in the cell. Now if gene is the controller of the functions of a cell, then the natural conclusion is that the gene should be the brain. This belief was maintained till 2005. In 2005, experiments were conducted in which the nucleus was removed from the cell under a microscope. The expectation was that the cell would die in the absence of its brain, but lo behold! the cell went on living. It continued to breathe, digest, excrete and move. It was not able to do two functions; it stopped producing daughter cells and it stopped making new proteins. This was understandable as it had lost its genetic code along with the nucleus. It died after more than two months as it was no longer creating new proteins to replace the dilapidated ones. So the brain was not inside the nucleus. The Gene was not the brain. It had the capability to reproduce.
When the biologists explored the chromosome, they found that half of it was the genetic material, DNA, and the other half was proteins. These proteins are called regulatory proteins. In the chromosome, the DNA formed the core and the proteins covered the DNA like a full sleeve shirt covers your arm. Thus the DNA was inaccessible to any prying eye. For reading the DNA, the sleeve has to be removed first which requires a signal from the environment. So the sequence is first a signal comes from the environment which exposes the DNA, the genetic code in the DNA is then replicated to make new proteins and for division to daughter cells. The regulatory proteins expose the genetic code selectively, and the exposed code is replicated in different combinations to form different types of proteins. It is to the credit of the regulatory proteins that the code in each gene can form 2000 to 3000 type of proteins by selectively hiding and exposing different parts of the genetic code of a gene. This also bridges the gap between the number of genes and types of proteins. By the way, research work carried out in 2014 reveals that a human being contains about 19,000 genes and not 25,000 as thought earlier ( Madhoosoodanan, 2014, The Scientist). This is way below the 24,000 genes in a rodent.
Many a research papers have been published as recent as 2015 (Preidt, 2015, US News and World Report, Goldman, 2015, Science Daily and more), which point to environment as the influencing factor, and not genes, that dictates the human immune system.
Namaste
Phir milenge
Prabir
.
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