DNA, Dual Superimposed Codes, and Evolution

This has been out for a while, but I think I failed to acknowledge it. And it is a big deal. It has been discovered that DNA has two codes, written one over the other. Both codes are necessary for genetic selection as well as for manufacturing proteins.

Scientists discover double meaning in genetic code

"Since the genetic code was deciphered in the 1960s, scientists have assumed that it was used exclusively to write information about proteins. UW scientists were stunned to discover that genomes use the genetic code to write two separate languages. One describes how proteins are made, and the other instructs the cell on how genes are controlled. One language is written on top of the other, which is why the second language remained hidden for so long.

"For over 40 years we have assumed that DNA changes affecting the genetic code solely impact how proteins are made," said Stamatoyannopoulos. "Now we know that this basic assumption about reading the human genome missed half of the picture. These new findings highlight that DNA is an incredibly powerful information storage device, which nature has fully exploited in unexpected ways."

The genetic code uses a 64-letter alphabet called codons. The UW team discovered that some codons, which they called duons, can have two meanings, one related to protein sequence, and one related to gene control. These two meanings seem to have evolved in concert with each other. The gene control instructions appear to help stabilize certain beneficial features of proteins and how they are made.

The discovery of duons has major implications for how scientists and physicians interpret a patient's genome and will open new doors to the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

"The fact that the genetic code can simultaneously write two kinds of information means that many DNA changes that appear to alter protein sequences may actually cause disease by disrupting gene control programs or even both mechanisms simultaneously," said Stamatoyannopoulos."

Note the gratuitous genuflection to evolution, entirely unnecessary to the findings of the code duality. In fact, such duality complicates the probability of evolution by many orders of magnitude beyond the negligible probability it previously enjoyed.

No doubt there will be attempts to trivialize this by some sort of Just So Story. If you see one pop up, let me know, OK? Thanks