Genome complexity: cells reading DNA (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, November 10, 2014, 17:40 (3447 days ago) @ David Turell

How to read DNA. It is complex:-"Remarkably, the team found that the reading patterns for enhancer and gene messages are highly similar in many respects, sharing a common architecture. "Our data suggests that the same basic reading process is happening at genes and these non-genic regulatory elements," explains Siepel. "This points to a unified model for how DNA transcription is initiated throughout the genome."-"Working together, the biochemists from Lis's laboratory and the computer jockeys from Siepel's group carefully compared the patterns at enhancers and genes, combining their own data with vast public data sets from the NIH's Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project. "By many different measures, we found that the patterns of transcription initiation are essentially the same at enhancers and genes," says Siepel. "Most RNA messages are rapidly targeted for destruction, but the messages at genes that are read in the right direction - those destined to be a protein - are spared from destruction." The team was able to devise a model to mathematically explain the difference between stable and unstable transcripts, offering insight into what defines a gene. According to Siepel, "Our analysis shows that the 'code' for stability is, in large part, written in the DNA, at enhancers and genes alike.""-http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-11-dna-insight-genes-evolve.html