Something Odd I Learned About DNA

Researching the book, I learned something new about DNA modification. Even the simplest bacteria can do it. All this time, we thought it was hard. There is a soil bacteria called Agrobacterium Tumefaciens, which sounds like a Greek playwright, but which has in fact been performing genetic modification of food for millions of years. WhatContinue reading “Something Odd I Learned About DNA”

More on the DNA Mystery

Another thought struck me today.  It relates back to my previous post and it’s this: If evolution depends on random chance (i.e. on random mutations of genes which are preserved when they provide a positive effect), then what you need is a lot of those random trials, and the way to have a lot of those randomContinue reading “More on the DNA Mystery”

A DNA Mystery (in the context of evolution)

So, for the novel, I’ve been doing lots of research on the history of genetics and I’ve come up with an odd problem about evolution. Most of our DNA is junk. It does nothing, codes for no proteins, just sits there like a big lazy telephone cord in every cell carried by every living thingContinue reading “A DNA Mystery (in the context of evolution)”