SO ENDS this second and last weekend on jumping genes. These often autonomous mobile threads of DNA have been important architects of genetic variation across species, liberally sharing genes and making new genes. Like prions, which are just clumps of tangled protein, these chemical threads can proliferate, infect, and move around in the cellular or genomic (respectively) ecosystems that they inhabit. They push our understanding of the boundaries of what it is to be alive towards information that can replicate itself and evolve.
linkedin post 2022-06-29 05:12:48
Nigel Fleming
September 21, 2022