One has heard of "Dark matter" in the context of physics - thought to account for 85% of the matter in universe
But in our own human body, there is "dark matter" (poorly understood) in the nucleus of just about every cell!
Which roughly corresponds to 8% of the genome
But in our own human body, there is "dark matter" (poorly understood) in the nucleus of just about every cell!
Which roughly corresponds to 8% of the genome
This is something that I learned recently, and it sounds quite fascinating
By the way, this dark matter is not something unique to human beings but large proportion of living things (all Eukaryotes to be precise - which have a membrane bound nucleus)
By the way, this dark matter is not something unique to human beings but large proportion of living things (all Eukaryotes to be precise - which have a membrane bound nucleus)
As is widely known, in every nucleus in the human body, you have genetic material - which is called as "Genome"
Reading the "Genome" has been one of the great breakthroughs of science, accomplished in the early 2000s
But it looks like we can only read part of the genome
Reading the "Genome" has been one of the great breakthroughs of science, accomplished in the early 2000s
But it looks like we can only read part of the genome
The portion of genome that we are able to "read" is only that portion of DNA that is "loosely packed" and amenable to ready sequencing and comprehension
92% of our genome to be precise
92% of our genome to be precise
This "loosely packed" 92% portion of the Genome is called "Euchromatin"
This is the portion of the genome where attempts at sequencing and assembling have succeeded
The remaining 8% is Heterochromatin (shown in the figure)
This is the portion of the genome where attempts at sequencing and assembling have succeeded
The remaining 8% is Heterochromatin (shown in the figure)
This is the dark matter inside us all.
And it's interesting that while the "comprehensible" DNA (Euchromatin) is closer to the center of the nucleus, heterochromatin is at the nucleus's periphery, as discussed at this link
cell.com/cell/fulltext/…
And it's interesting that while the "comprehensible" DNA (Euchromatin) is closer to the center of the nucleus, heterochromatin is at the nucleus's periphery, as discussed at this link
cell.com/cell/fulltext/…
It looks like this "Dark matter" (heterochromatin) is unmappable, and unread.
In part because it is "tightly packed", and is highly condensed
So 92% of our genes are "unpacked" to some extent enabling reading. The remaining is all coiled up
In part because it is "tightly packed", and is highly condensed
So 92% of our genes are "unpacked" to some extent enabling reading. The remaining is all coiled up
I find this curious -
Why would nature choose to make a small portion of our genome relatively unfathomable compared to the rest?
What is the relative significance of that 8% relative to the remaining 92%, as we attempt to fathom the human condition?
Why would nature choose to make a small portion of our genome relatively unfathomable compared to the rest?
What is the relative significance of that 8% relative to the remaining 92%, as we attempt to fathom the human condition?
It's a bit like the discovery of the new World that awaited us circa 1500.
Circa 1500, we knew all that needed to be known about the old world - (Europe + Asia + North Africa)
But the new world remained unknown / faintly known to us (Americas, Australasia, Sub-Saharan Africa)
Circa 1500, we knew all that needed to be known about the old world - (Europe + Asia + North Africa)
But the new world remained unknown / faintly known to us (Americas, Australasia, Sub-Saharan Africa)
Will the biological dark matter cease to be "dark" in a hundred years time?
Just as the dark continents on earth ceased to elude us
Just as the dark continents on earth ceased to elude us
