Damn, How'd She Fit in Them Genes?
Today, I was reading Insect Molecular Genetics when suddenly I was overcome by a chilling thought. No, it wasn't the same grueling feeling EVERYONE gets reading the complex array of abbreviations and feeble attempts to be poetic about molecular interactions- it was much worse. Here's the excerpt (bare with me) that catalyzed my reaction:
" Some introns have been inherited for millions of years, making it possible to find a consistent location for the introns when homologous genes from different organisms are examined. THE ACTUAL SEQUENCES OF THE INTRONS IN THESE HOMOLOGOUS GENES MAY HAVE DIVERGED THROUGH MUTATION TO THE POINT THAT THEY APPEAR TO HAVE NO SEQUENCE SIMILARITY. Trotman suggests that this consistent location of introns is evidence that introns may have been integral to the development of primordial genes. HOWEVER, VERY FEW OF THE ANCIENT INTRONS MAY HAVE SURVIVED IN A DETECTABLE FORM because cellular life is very old and EVOLUTION HAS HAD A LONG TIME TO CHANGE THE SEQUENCES WITHIN THESE NON-CODING REGIONS. "
What seems most clear to me, just by reading textbooks like these, and remembering my organic chemistry class curve is that there is a tremendous possibility that the person either writing the textbook, or the researcher, doesn't really understand genetics. I'm not claiming that I am the next James Watson; don't get me wrong. Its just that saying you feel the comparison of two segments of a genome, which "don't appear similar at all" is strong evidence to suggest that the two regions come from the same ancestor is pretty weak.
Trotman and Gilbert aside, the terrible thought I came to this afternoon was that there could be hundreds of researchers with poor knowledge of genetics infiltrating the industry publishing bogus papers. Think about it for a minute. EVERYBODY and their brother wants to be a geneticist, either because of the idea of biological engineering, CSI, or the human genome project. This means that there are hundreds of people- people that normally wouldn't make the cut in scientific circles- competing for a job in the world of biochemistry. Assuming even a few dozen brilliant geneticists, who has time to go back and double-check the thousands of experiments conducted by the substandard scientists? Who can fight the pool of "common knowledge" once thier papers are published and cited? The field is moving too fast, and growing too much to make any sort of checking really possible, as far as I can see.
And that frightens me.
" Some introns have been inherited for millions of years, making it possible to find a consistent location for the introns when homologous genes from different organisms are examined. THE ACTUAL SEQUENCES OF THE INTRONS IN THESE HOMOLOGOUS GENES MAY HAVE DIVERGED THROUGH MUTATION TO THE POINT THAT THEY APPEAR TO HAVE NO SEQUENCE SIMILARITY. Trotman suggests that this consistent location of introns is evidence that introns may have been integral to the development of primordial genes. HOWEVER, VERY FEW OF THE ANCIENT INTRONS MAY HAVE SURVIVED IN A DETECTABLE FORM because cellular life is very old and EVOLUTION HAS HAD A LONG TIME TO CHANGE THE SEQUENCES WITHIN THESE NON-CODING REGIONS. "
What seems most clear to me, just by reading textbooks like these, and remembering my organic chemistry class curve is that there is a tremendous possibility that the person either writing the textbook, or the researcher, doesn't really understand genetics. I'm not claiming that I am the next James Watson; don't get me wrong. Its just that saying you feel the comparison of two segments of a genome, which "don't appear similar at all" is strong evidence to suggest that the two regions come from the same ancestor is pretty weak.
Trotman and Gilbert aside, the terrible thought I came to this afternoon was that there could be hundreds of researchers with poor knowledge of genetics infiltrating the industry publishing bogus papers. Think about it for a minute. EVERYBODY and their brother wants to be a geneticist, either because of the idea of biological engineering, CSI, or the human genome project. This means that there are hundreds of people- people that normally wouldn't make the cut in scientific circles- competing for a job in the world of biochemistry. Assuming even a few dozen brilliant geneticists, who has time to go back and double-check the thousands of experiments conducted by the substandard scientists? Who can fight the pool of "common knowledge" once thier papers are published and cited? The field is moving too fast, and growing too much to make any sort of checking really possible, as far as I can see.
And that frightens me.
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