This month's Carnival of Evolution (39th version) is hosted by Cromercrox, a "Celebrity Nutritionist" who lives in Cromer, Norfolk, England (United Kingdom). It blogs at The End Of The Pier Show: Carnival of Evolution #39.
Dr. Sher has asked me to respond to your recent e-mail regarding our What's Your Type? new donor recruitment program. I understand that you have also sent an e-mail communicating your concerns to www.whatsyourtype@blood.ca and that others from our organization have provided you with specific details in response. I can confirm that the content you object to has been removed from our web site. The marketing materials for this program are being revised.Congratulations, Canadian Blood Services. You did the right thing.
Thanks again for sharing your views with us.
Ian Mumford
Chief Operating Officer
Canadian Blood Services
... once (sequential) information has passed into protein it cannot get out again (F.H.C. Crick, 1958)In other words, the flow of information is from nucleic acid to protein and never from protein to nucleic acid.
The central dogma of molecular biology deals with the detailed residue-by-residue transfer of sequential information. It states that such information cannot be transferred from protein to either protein or nucleic acid. (F.H.C. Crick, 1970)
The incorrect version of the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology is what Crick referred to as the "Sequence Hypothesis" and what we now know as a simplified version of the standard pathway for information flow from genes that specify a protein product. The incorrect version is often presented in textbooks as the real Central Dogma although that's slowly changing [The Central Dogma Strawman].The concept was that information basically flows from DNA to RNA to protein, which determines the cellular and organismal phenotype. While it was considered a theoretical possibility that RNA could transfer information to DNA, information transfer from proteins to DNA, RNA, of other proteins was considered outside the dogma and "would shake the whole intellectual basis of molecular biology [Crick, 1970].That sounds pretty good but the first part is a little troubling. Which version does Shapiro actually believe he's "revisiting"?
This is part 11 of my review of The Myth of Junk DNA. For a list of other postings on this topic see the links in Genomes & Junk DNA in the "theme box" below or in the sidebar under "Themes." Furthermore, because Mkrn1-p1 is a nonfunctional pseudogene and does not trans-regulate its source Mkrn1 gene as claimed (6–9), our work reestablishes the evolutionary paradigm supported by overwhelming evidence that mammalian pseudogenes are indeed inactive gene relics.
Boiled down to its essentials, Darwinian theory is a bizarre cult-like belief that random events can produce the antithesis of randomness.BTW, some of you might have forgotten that Gil Dodgen is involved in real science. Here's a reminder: Gil Dodgen Explains the Salem Conjecture.
In no other area of science would such obvious nonsense be accepted without scrutiny or dissent.
One can learn the essentials of Darwinian theory and its claims in a few hours. It’s really just that shallow.
Those of us who are involved in real science — in which rigor is demanded, and in which fantastic, evidentially and rationally unsupported stories like those proposed by Darwinists are laughed at — recognize this shallowness and the transparently absurd claims made on behalf of the theory.
Believe it or not, I often try not to make fun of There is nothing unusual about Governor Rick Perry. Uneducated fools can be found in every country and every period of history, and they are not unknown in high office. What is unusual about today’s Republican party (I disavow the ridiculous ‘GOP’ nickname, because the party of Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt has lately forfeited all claim to be considered ‘grand’) is this: In any other party and in any other country, an individual may occasionally rise to the top in spite of being an uneducated ignoramus. In today’s Republican Party ‘in spite of’ is not the phrase we need. Ignorance and lack of education are positive qualifications, bordering on obligatory. Intellect, knowledge and linguistic mastery are mistrusted by Republican voters, who, when choosing a president, would apparently prefer someone like themselves over someone actually qualified for the job.There's lots more. Enjoy, no matter what country you live in.
I was going to write about the discovery of the oldest fossil cells but Jerry Coyne beat me to the punch [Newly found: the world’s oldest fossils!]. The new fossil bacteria are thought to be 3.4 billion years old and they were discovered in Australia only a few kilometers from the site where the so-called "cyanobacteria" fossils were discovered almost twenty years ago. Those fossils were reported to be even older (3.5 billion years) but the discovery has been completely discredited. The "fossils" aren't fossils [Did Life Arise 3.5 Billion Years Ago?]. That makes this discovery the oldest known cells (Wacey, 2011). This is part 10 of my review of The Myth of Junk DNA. For a list of other postings on this topic see the links below. For other postings on junk DNA check out the links in Genomes & Junk DNA in the "theme box" below or in the sidebar under "Themes." 
Freya was one of the important Norse gods.
In Norse mythology, Freya is a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses. She is the patron goddess of crops and birth, the symbol of sensuality and was called upon in matters of love. She loves music, spring and flowers, and is particularly fond of the elves (fairies). Freya is one of the foremost goddesses of the Vanir.How can you not love a god who is fond of eleves?
We Are Atheism Campaign from the Richard Dawkins Foundation.
This is your chance to finally be heard. This is our chance to stand up, speak out, and be counted. We want to provide a platform for atheists around the globe to see that they are not alone. Atheists come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and backgrounds. The only thing that we all have in common is that we don’t see any credible evidence to believe in a god. It’s ok to be an atheist, and we want the world to know.We are not just here to let you watch movies; these are real people living real lives as atheists. We want the world to know we exist and we will not be ignored. We will stand up, speak out, and be counted.
- Provide an outlet for atheists to feel comfortable to come out of the closet.
- Always let visitors know there are other people out there that are non-believers.
- Help people find other atheists like them in their state, city, and even neighborhood.
- Give access to local, national, and international organization to become involved in the secular community.
- Empower people to start their own organization in areas that does not already have one.
i am mr. x; first, i am not anti-vax; second, i didn't want epiren to stop posting, but rather to take down the defamatory blog; third, i am not done going after every individual who defames me.Who is this despicable person? It's a little tricky to find out since he's in the process of erasing his blog, his twitter account, and several other internet references. His YouTube videos on folate have been made inaccessible and the websites of some of his companies seem to be undergoing routine maintenance. But there are still traces of him on the internet as PZ Myers discovered: Rhett S. Daniels, litigious bully.
you think you are safe, but all i have to do is file a john doe - or hire a cyber investigator. these courses of action cost less than $10,000 each; which means every person who is afraid of the light can be exposed.
i will not tolerate harassment, defamation, or any such action by any of you. i am very aware of all of you, and have the capital and the will to go after each and every one of you ONLY IF you defame or slander me.
i am self employed if you count owning 11 pharmaceutical companies with cum gross sales over 1/2 billion.
....
actuall, to save me $9,000 i will offer $1,000 for identify info that leads to an address where i can serve anarchic teapot (legally serve as in sheriff delivers court papers).
Activist, philanthropist and entrepreneur. Highly skilled executive who excels at taking small struggling companies from low to high revenues in short periods. Boast an impressive record of the most pharmaceutical drug products ever developed by one person (over 400) in the history of pharma - surpassing my idol, Robert Stockstad from Lederle Pharma (he developed folic acid in 1947). One of the most successful non-lawyer ProSe litigants in history. As of July 18, 2011, total product sales since July 18, 2006, are: $590,635,984 (and 22,728,724 units sold!). politics: www.linkedin.com/in/RhettSDaniels ViaDiem Holdings (Founder): www.viadiem.com Captiva Pharma (CEO): www.CaptivaRx.com Goals: (1) To lead a small pharma company from less than $20 million/yr to over $1 billion/yr in revenues; (2) To feed 82 million Africans with my new unique ingredients that purifies water while provided demographic and staple-deficient based vitamins to provide min RDA based on regional disparities;Rhett Daniels seems to have forgotten that there are some things that are both wrong and evil.
You get to ride the big roller coaster three times in a row. What will keep your dad from taking a bite out of your candy apple?
Doing the Good versus doing the Right. Somethings can be Right that are not Good; and there are many things that are Good that are not Right. Right means legally, and Good means natural law.
Who takes the greater leap of faith -- the atheist or the believer? Best selling author and award-winning radio talk show host, Frank Pastore, poses this question in this compelling Prager University video course.
A recent paper in Molecular Cell involved the study of nucleosome assembly in vitro (Torigoe et al. 2011). The authors were looking for intermediate stages in the assembly of nucleosome after DNA replication. Here's the abstract of their paper ...
Chromatin assembly involves the combined action of histone chaperones and ATP-dependent motor proteins. Here, we investigate the mechanism of nucleosome assembly with a purified chromatin assembly system containing the histone chaperone NAP1 and the ATP-dependent motor protein ACF. These studies revealed the rapid formation of a stable nonnucleosomal histone-DNA intermediate that is converted into canonical nucleosomes by ACF. The histone-DNA intermediate does not supercoil DNA like a canonical nucleosome, but has a nucleosome-like appearance by atomic force microscopy. This intermediate contains all four core histones, lacks NAP1, and is formed by the initial deposition of histones H3-H4. Conversion of the intermediate into histone H1-containing chromatin results in increased resistance to micrococcal nuclease digestion. These findings suggest that the histone-DNA intermediate corresponds to nascent nucleosome-like structures, such as those observed at DNA replication forks. Related complexes might be formed during other chromatin-directed processes such as transcription, DNA repair, and histone exchange.Interesting but hardly Earth-shattering. More work needs to be done to confirm this result and see if it's significant in vivo. At least that's what you would think if you just looked at the paper.
Basic biology textbooks may need a bit of revising now that biologists at UC San Diego have discovered a never-before-noticed component of our basic genetic material.
According to the textbooks, chromatin, the natural state of DNA in the cell, is made up of nucleosomes. And nucleosomes are the basic repeating unit of chromatin.
That's correct. All the textbooks have a diagram similar to the one shown here from my textbook. It shows the organization of nucleosome core particles and the completed nucleosome on DNA.
"This novel particle was found as a precursor to a nucleosome," said James Kadonaga, a professor of biology at UC San Diego who headed the research team and calls the particle a "pre-nucleosome." "These findings suggest that it is necessary to reconsider what chromatin is. The pre-nucleosome is likely to be an important player in how our genetic material is duplicated and used."This is mostly hype and none of this speculation is found in the actual paper. Unfortunately, this sort of press release has become the norm and that's got to stop.
The biologists say that while the pre-nucleosome may look something like a nucleosome under the microscope, biochemical tests have shown that it is in reality halfway between DNA and a nucleosome.
These pre-nucleosomes, the researchers say, are converted into nucleosomes by a motor protein that uses the energy molecule ATP.
"The discovery of pre-nucleosomes suggests that much of chromatin, which has been generally presumed to consist only of nucleosomes, may be a mixture of nucleosomes and pre-nucleosomes," said Kadonaga. "So, this discovery may be the beginning of a revolution in our understanding of what chromatin is."
1. It even seemed important enough for Richard Dawkins.net: Biologists' Discovery May Force Revision of Biology Textbooks: Novel Chromatin Particle Halfway Between DNA and a Nucleosome.
