Month: September 2022

REGULATORS AND DISEASE. "Micro-RNAs are acknowledged as key regulators of gene expression. This means that dysfunctions of these regulatory mechanisms may lead to dysregulated genes with a cascade of disease-causing consequences." https://lnkd.in/euyhznh View in LinkedIn

VIRAL ORIGINS. "Most of the functions of gene control that we currently know descended from retro-elements." https://lnkd.in/euyhznh View in LinkedIn

CYCLE WINDOWS FOR REGULATORS. "In general, noncoding RNAs play important roles as intermediate products in the function and structure of the host genome, for example, in the reproductive cycle of host cells from the start to the end of the S-phase. Regulatory functions are restricted to specific phases of the cell cycle." https://lnkd.in/euyhznh View in LinkedIn

VIRUS-FIRST THESIS. "If we consider the important role of the highly structured and ordered regulatory network of noncoding RNAs as not being randomly derived, one of the most favorable models with explanatory power is the virus-first thesis. This means that the evolution of the noncoding RNA world is the result of persistent viral life strategies." https://lnkd.in/euyhznh View in LinkedIn

BROAD REMIT. "The whole range of mobile genetic agents that are competent to edit the genetic code/nucleic acid language not only edit, but also regulate key cellular processes of replication as well as transcription, translation, re-combination, repair, and even inventions via a wide variety of small RNAs." https://lnkd.in/euyhznh View in LinkedIn

DNA AS HABITAT FOR VIRAL PARTS. "DNA is not only an information-storing archive but a life habitat for linguistically-competent RNA agents, most of them seemingly of viral or subviral descent." https://lnkd.in/euyhznh View in LinkedIn

VIRAL DRIVERS OF LIFE. "Recent research in microbiology, based on comparative genomics and phylogenetic analyses, has demonstrated that life must be viewed from the perspective of the crucial role played by viruses." https://lnkd.in/euyhznh View in LinkedIn

VIRAL DRIVERS "contradicts former concepts that focused on viruses in the framework of (i) escape theories, that is, viruses are intact or deformed genetic parasites that escaped from cellular life, or that viruses (ii) evolved from cellular ancestors or (iii) that they are not living beings because they cannot live without cellular life." https://lnkd.in/euyhznh View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE this next two weekends addresses flower opening and closing, a fascinating phenomenon whose evolutionary function is poorly understood. Surprisingly, though studied for over a century, there has been only a single comprehensive review of the literature. Although the mechanics are largely driven by turgor, the backstory of genes being turned on and off, of circadian clock regulation, and of metabolic changes is quite enthralling. View in LinkedIn

ABOMINABLE MYSTERY. "Darwin called their sudden appearance in the fossil record an “abominable mystery.” Since Darwin's time, we have been able to clarify that picture a little bit. Even so, our understanding of the origin of the angiosperm lineage is dubious at best. When and why did flowers evolve? There is scant fossil evidence to illustrate the early evolutionary steps in this development of flowers." https://lnkd.in/euP3eDr View in LinkedIn