#genome

There were long stretches of DNA in between genes that didn't seem to be doing very much; some even referred to these as "junk DNA," though a certain amount of hubris was required for anyone to call any part of the genome "junk," given our level of ignorance. ↗

— Francis S. Collins

#biology #dna #hubris #human-genome #ignorance

During this period, I became interested in how the new techniques of cloning and sequencing DNA could influence the study of genetics and I was an early and active proponent of the Human Genome Sequencing Project. ↗

— Sydney Brenner

#became #cloning #could #dna #during

While the Environmental Genome Project does not seek to assign allele frequencies, we are aware of the importance of accurate allele frequency estimates for future epidemiologic studies and the large sample sizes such estimates will require. ↗

— Samuel Wilson

#assign #aware #does #environmental #estimates

I am thrilled to see my genome. ↗

— James D. Watson

#genome #i #i am #see #thrilled

One of the responsibilities faced by the Environmental Genome Project is to provide the science base upon which society can make better informed risk management decisions. ↗

— Samuel Wilson

#better #decisions #environmental #faced #genome

Science has discovered that, like any work of literature, the human genome is a text in need of commentary, for what Eliot said of poetry is also true of DNA: 'all meanings depend on the key of interpretation.' What makes us human, and what makes each of us his or her own human, is not simply the genes that we have buried into our base pairs, but how our cells, in dialogue with our environment, feed back to our DNA, changing the way we read ourselves. Life is a dialectic. ↗

— Jonah Lehrer

#genes #genome #life #literature #science

The gene contains a single 'word', repeated over and over again: CAG, CAG, CAG, CAG ... The repetition continues sometimes just six times, sometimes thirty, sometimes more than a hundred times. Your destiny, your sanity and your life hang by the thread of this repetition. If the 'word' is repeated thirty-five times or fewer, you will be fine. Most of us have about ten to fifteen repeats. If the 'word' is repeated thirty-nine times or more, you will in mid-life slowly start to lose your balance, grow steadily more incapable of looking after yourself and die prematurely. ↗

— Matt Ridley

#genome #life