Re: Junk DNA: A hypothesis

From: William Morse (wdmorse_at_twcny.rr.com)
Date: 01/29/05 

Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 01:44:19 -0500 (EST)

"Perplexed in Peoria" <jimmenegay@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
news:ct1rio$go0$1@darwin.ediacara.org:

>
> "Larry Moran" <lamoran@bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca> wrote in message
> news:ct10r4$80h$1@darwin.ediacara.org...

(snip)

>> In other words. There was no selective advantage for either keeping
>> junk DNA or getting rid of it and there's no reason to propose that
>> the junk DNA currently in our chromosomes is there for a reason.
>> Is that a good summary of your poisition?
>
> Do I see the existence of junk DNA as a problem crying out for a
> solution? Absolutely not. Your hypothesis that "junk is junk" is
> a satisfactory solution to THAT problem.
>
> However, nature is inventive and opportunistic. If junk is not
> a problem that nature had to solve, then it may, in some cases,
> be an opportunity that nature has exploited.

Well put. And there is research that indicates that the amount of
noncoding DNA is subject to selection. I had seen an article in Science a
year or two ago addressing this question. I can't find that reference,
but I think it was work related to the research discussed in the article
at:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=33451

This research indicates that marginal environments favor heterozygosity
and more noncoding DNA - perhaps because these make for greater
evolvability. I do not know if similar results have been found by any
other researchers.

(snip)
 
>> No. It's wishful thinking on the part of some people who are
>> philosophically uncomfortable with the idea that we have junk DNA.
>> They make up stories so they can feel good about being an
>> adaptionist.

While other people dismiss any evidence that selection operates on junk
DNA. They make up objections so they can feel good about being a
stochasticist :-)

Yours,

Bill Morse

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