September 25th, 2024

'Post genomic era' reveals nothing less than a new biology

The post-genomic era highlights the complexity of gene regulation and non-coding RNA, challenging traditional views and emphasizing the need for new frameworks in biology and personalized medicine.

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'Post genomic era' reveals nothing less than a new biology

the genome and the role of genes in biology. The post-genomic era is revealing a more complex picture of life, where gene regulation and non-coding RNA play crucial roles that were previously overlooked. The Human Genome Project (HGP) provided a foundational understanding of the genome, but the subsequent decades have shown that the simplistic view of genes as mere blueprints for proteins is inadequate. Instead, much of the genome is involved in regulatory functions, and many genes do not encode proteins at all. This shift in understanding challenges the traditional narratives in biology and highlights the need for new frameworks to communicate these complexities. Despite the initial excitement surrounding genome sequencing, the anticipated breakthroughs in personalized medicine and targeted therapies have not materialized as expected. The scientific community must adapt its narratives and methodologies to better reflect the intricate realities of gene function and regulation, which may lead to more effective approaches in biomedicine and a deeper understanding of life itself.

- The post-genomic era reveals a complex understanding of gene regulation and non-coding RNA.

- The Human Genome Project laid the groundwork, but the simplistic view of genes as blueprints is outdated.

- Many regions of the genome linked to diseases are non-coding sequences involved in regulation.

- The anticipated breakthroughs in personalized medicine have not yet been realized.

- A new narrative is needed to communicate the complexities of modern biology effectively.

Link Icon 3 comments
By @notarobot123 - 7 months
> This story is (for the most part) not wrong. It’s plenty good enough to give students a rough notion of how biology works. But its elisions, omissions and simplifications can create serious misconceptions about what genes are and do.

This sounds like a recurring pattern across any and all fields of scientific research. We create simplified models of the world and forget we are thinking in abstractions that obscure some of the messy and beautiful details of the real world.

By @fastaguy88 - 7 months
Just a minor correction. Most of the proteins encoded by the human genome are NOT enzymes. Only about 17% of the ~20,000 human proteins have known enzyme activities. Many proteins (probably the majority of protein mass in the cell) are structural, and others do signaling and metabolite transport.
By @rini17 - 7 months
The LLMs are cracking all the genomes and molecular biology as we speak. Holding my breath.