Junk DNA: goodbye!: used for therapy (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, August 27, 2017, 21:47 (2645 days ago) @ David Turell

A junk area gene, actually a lncRNA, has been found to help with familial hypercholesterolemia:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170827101841.htm

"Scientists from UCLA and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute successfully used a gene that suppresses cholesterol levels as part of a treatment to reduce plaque in mice with a disorder called familial hypercholesterolemia. In a preclinical study, researchers found that the gene, LeXis, lowered cholesterol and blockages in the arteries, and the treatment appeared to reduce the build-up of fat in liver cells.

"Familial hypercholesterolemia is an inherited condition characterized by extremely high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (commonly referred to as "bad cholesterol") and an increased risk of early heart disease.

"The LeXis gene belongs to a unique group of genes that until recently were considered "junk DNA" because scientists believed they served little purpose. However, evidence from the human genome project led to the discovery that genes like LeXis are actually active. The study of these genes, now referred to as long noncoding ribonucleic acids, or lncRNAs, is a rapidly evolving area in biology.

"Researchers wanted to test whether a single injection of LeXis could slow the development of heart disease. To do so, they gave the mice either LeXis or a control gene, and fed them a 15-week diet consisting of food high in sodium and cholesterol -- the mouse equivalent of fast-food hamburgers and french fries. Researchers then measured the progression of heart disease."

Comment: 'Junk' DNA, as a concept, is important to atheists, who point to so-called junk areas in DNA as a proof that the process of evolution is really at random, and these areas are evidence of discarded useless genes from past attempts at evolution. The less evidence of purpose, the more likely it is all a chance mechanism, no God needed. It appears more and more about 805 of DNA is functional.