Re: [asa] Junk DNA

> 'Junk' DNA Proves Functional; Helps Explain Human Differences From Other Species
>
> ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2008) — In a paper published in Genome Research on
> Nov. 4, scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) report that
> what was previously believed to be "junk" DNA is one of the important
> ingredients distinguishing humans from other species…

This is a bit misleading, as this refers to a specific component of
the non-protein coding DNA rather than to all "junk" DNA. It is true
that much of the genome once thought to be non-functional actually has
function. On the other hand, there are plenty of bits that do not
have any particular function, yet they show patterns as expected
evolutionarily. For example, as long as introns can properly be
identified as such and properly processed, much of the sequence does
not matter, yet there are evolutionary patterns in the degree of
sequence similarity (unfortunately often obscured by divergence
between multiple copies in an individual mollusk).

More fundamentally, the presence of "junk" DNA is not a good argument
against design, nor is the presence of function for DNA previously
considered junk a good argument for design. More specific predictions
are needed in either direction.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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