Description

For over half a century, we have been in the thrall of the double-helicaln structure of DNA, which, in an instant, revealed that information can be transferred between generations by a simple rule: A pairs with T, G pairs with C. In its beautiful simplicity, this structure, along with the table of codons worked out in the following decade, had entranced us into believing that we can fully understand the information content of a DNA sequence, simply by treating it as text that is read in a linear fashion. While we have learned much based on this assumption, there is much we have missed. Far from a passive tape running through a reader, genomes contain information that appears in new forms which create regions with distinct behavior. Some are "gene rich," some mobile, some full of repeats and duplications, some sticking together across long evolutionary distances, some readily breaking apart in tumor cells. Even protein-coding regions can carry additional information, taking advantage of the flexible coding options provided by the degeneracy of the genetic code. The chapters in this volume touch on one or more of three interconnected themes: information can be implied, rather than explicit, in a genome; information can lead to focused and/or regulated changes in nucleotide sequences; information that affects the probability of distinct classes of mutation has implications for evolutionary theory.

Reviews

"Maintains an excitement that typically is only found in texts for a lay audience"--Elizabeth A.D. Hammock, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Vanderbilt University

"The Implicit Genome explains why the greatest challenge of today's genomics is to annotate the biological functions of DNA sequences. The language of genomes is written in a simple alphabet of As, Ts, Gs, and Cs, but it is so rich in idiom that biological function is difficult to infer from sequence alone. Even regions that code for proteins are problematical because of imprinting, alternative splicing, RNA editing, and other complexities. Lynn Caporale has done a great service in highlighting some of the major challenges in contemporary genomics."--Dan Hartl, Higgins Professor of Biology, Harvard University, and Member National Academy of Sciences

"This timely, critical evaluation of...undeciphered genomic information is of interest both for life scientists and for all those who are fascinated by the natural driving forces of life and its evolution."--Werner Arber, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Microbiology, University of Basel, Switzerland, and Nobel Laureate in Medicine

"The book, through paradigmatic experiments and analysis...points to avenues of research that could lead to a much more thorough understanding of the combinatorial wealth of surprises the genome still holds for us."--Dennis Shasha, Professor, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, and editor of the Oxford Series in Systems Biology

Product Details

400 pages; 78 line illus.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-517271-3ISBN10: 0-19-517271-X

About the Author(s)