More than meets the eye

Complexity in life lies in the juxtaposition of simple blocks. Back when DNA was discovered, and finally identified to be contain only 4 bases, i.e. alphabet, we struggled to figure out how that could encode for the magic of life. Then we discovered that every 3 bases code for 1 amino acid, one word, and there are only 20 different atomic units of proteins. A string of many amino acids together make up a functional protein, as in a sentence, the basis of many biological machines. By the simple mapping of arrangement of DNA, we can translate to sequences of amino acids, and finally identifying proteins, thus, the sentences that describe life.

Through the hardwork of many, we discovered that there are domains within proteins, as in phrases of our sentences. Of course, there were also multiple level of controls of how DNA is organized, transcription of DNA into RNA, processing, storage, and translation of RNA into proteins. Proteins themselves are further post-translationally modified, delivered, assembled with other proteins to form complexes, as in paragraphs. (I’m trying to see how far I can carry the analogy of life and linguistic before that breaks down).

Within the past decade, a whole new world of genetics developed, based on the discovery of “non-coding” RNA. What we thought was junk DNA, that was not coding for meaning for RNA and consequently, proteins, turns out to encode for meaningful control sequences to determine whether coding RNAs become proteins. I will go more in-depth in the future.