Tuesday, October 03, 2006
The nobel prize for medicine went to this guy who figured out a way to use RNA to turn off genes, so that they don't get expressed. Article.
This is a very powerful tool, with immediate real world consequences.
In contrast, today's Nobel in physics was for proving the big bang. Ho hum.
One of my [obsessions, interests, topics] is the singularity. Singularity theory says that the rate of change is increasing, because these technologuical breakthoughs are feeding each other in a synergistic cycle. Rosalin Franklin discovered DNA, somebody else mapped the DNA of the mouse and human, now we have a way to turn genes on and off, allowing something a lot like controlled scientific experimentation.
Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. Most of our genes aren't expressed. 90% or so.
We carry a lot of baggage from our evolutionary history that is no longer needed to build the organism, but hangs around because it was important once.
Once, upon a time, I read a science fiction story about a guy who operated in alligators. He noticed that aligators have a three chambered heart, and are slow and sluggish, where mammals have a more efficient four chambered heart. So he gave the gators better hearts, and they grew up to be dragons, and began taking over the world. The Nobel news story reminded me of that. Perhaps there are genes that serve to block the expression of other sets of genes from our distant past. Perhaps these blocking genes can themselves be blocked, using this iRNA process. Releasing id monsters. Just one of those pipe dreams I had, and tried to remember long enough to blog about.
This is a very powerful tool, with immediate real world consequences.
In contrast, today's Nobel in physics was for proving the big bang. Ho hum.
One of my [obsessions, interests, topics] is the singularity. Singularity theory says that the rate of change is increasing, because these technologuical breakthoughs are feeding each other in a synergistic cycle. Rosalin Franklin discovered DNA, somebody else mapped the DNA of the mouse and human, now we have a way to turn genes on and off, allowing something a lot like controlled scientific experimentation.
Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. Most of our genes aren't expressed. 90% or so.
We carry a lot of baggage from our evolutionary history that is no longer needed to build the organism, but hangs around because it was important once.
Once, upon a time, I read a science fiction story about a guy who operated in alligators. He noticed that aligators have a three chambered heart, and are slow and sluggish, where mammals have a more efficient four chambered heart. So he gave the gators better hearts, and they grew up to be dragons, and began taking over the world. The Nobel news story reminded me of that. Perhaps there are genes that serve to block the expression of other sets of genes from our distant past. Perhaps these blocking genes can themselves be blocked, using this iRNA process. Releasing id monsters. Just one of those pipe dreams I had, and tried to remember long enough to blog about.
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