On Sat, 22 May 2004 22:44:34 +0000 (UTC), 
Robert Karl Stonjek  wrote:

> Rethinking Genetic Determinism
> With only 30,000 genes, what is it that makes humans human?
> By Paul H. Silverman
> 
> For more than 50 years scientists have operated under a set of seemingly
> incontrovertible assumptions about genes, gene expression, and the
> consequences thereof. Their mantra: One gene yields one protein; genes 
> beget messenger RNA, which in turn begets protein; and most critically, 
> the gene is deterministic in gene expression and can therefore predict 
> disease propensities.

This is total nonsense. I've been teaching about genes that don't 
make mRNA or proteins for 25 years and I learned about them long before
that.

> Yet during the last five years, data have revealed inadequacies in this
> theory. Unsettling results from the Human Genome Project (HGP) in 
> particular have thrown the deficiencies into sharp relief. Some genes 
> encode more than one protein; others don't encode proteins at all. 

I've also been teaching students about genes that encode more than one
protein for 25 years.

> These findings help refine evolutionary theory by explaining an explosion 
> of diversity from relatively little starting material. 

Really?

> We therefore need to rethink our long-held beliefs: A reevaluation of 
> the genetic determinism doctrine, coupled with a new systems biology 
> mentality, could help consolidate and clarify genome-scale data, enabling 
> us finally to reap the rewards of the genome sequencing projects.

This soounds a lot like new-age doublespeak. Who is this guy?

> UNEXPECTED RESULTS In the mid- and late 1980s, our testimony before the
> congressional committees controlling HGP purse strings relied upon our 
> old assumptions.1 In describing the genome's potential medical value, 
> we elevated the status of the gene in human development and by extension, 
> human health. At the same time, the deterministic nature of the gene 
> entered the social consciousness with talk of "designer"
babies and DNA 
> police that could detect future criminals.

Whatever ...

> Armed with DNA determinism, scientific entrepreneurs convinced venture
> capitalists and the lay public to invest in multi-billion-dollar 
> enterprises whose aim was to identify the anticipated 100,000-plus genes 
> in the human genome, patent the nucleotide sequences, and then lease or 
> sell that information to pharmaceutical companies for use in drug 
> discovery. 

Most experts thought there would be fewer than 50,000 genes. They turned 
out to be right.

> Prominent among these were two Rockville, Md.-based companies, Celera, 
> under the leadership of J. Craig Venter, and Human Genome Sciences, led 
> by William Haseltine.
> 
> But when the first draft of the human genome sequence was published in the
> spring of 2001, the unexpectedly low gene count (less than 30,000) elicited
> a hasty reevaluation of this business model. On a genetic level, humans, 
> it seems, are not all that different from flies and worms.

No experts were surprised at this result. 

> Or maybe they are, if we can assume that genes are not strictly
> deterministic. As Venter et al. reported in their genome manuscript: "A
> single gene may give rise to multiple transcripts, and thus multiple
> distinct proteins with multiple functions by means of alternative splicing
> and alternative transcription initiation and termination sites."2
> 
> The industry shakeup was predictable. Celera, Human Genome Sciences, and
> most of the other genomic sequencing firms refocused their business plans
> and downsized. Venter resigned as president of Celera, and Haseltine has
> indicated his intention to do the same.

I think Venter and Haseltine were probably kidnapped by aliens or maybe
they've been murdered by the Masons. It's certain that there has to be
some kind of world-wide conspiracy in order to explain all these strange
happenings.

> Read the rest at The Scientist
> http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2004/may/research3_040524.html

The Scientist is not a credible magazine.




Larry Moran
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