Wired: three smart things about genomics
The mag breaks out three important lessons from genomics. Here's number one:
The real benefit of studying genomes is that it has taught us how little we know. We used to think noncoding "junk" DNA didn't do anything. Now it turns out it may contain underlying instructions for how DNA works.
The other two are worth checking out.
On a related note in the same issue, Wired's Jargon Watch spots "Microbesoft," a derisive name supposedly tagged to Craig Venter's Synthetic Geonomics for its effort to patent synthetic microbes. If you have a few minutes, you might find it interesting to skim over the Venter Institute's patent application for Mycoplasma laboratorium -- it almost reads like it's describing a tiny machine more than an organism.
-Greg Dahlmann
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