Is Dna Junk And Comletely Useless?

Daniela Mendez
January, 16, 2013
10th Blue Biology
“Researchers are showing that the old Darwinian ideas about “Junk” DNA were simplistic. Welcome to the new genome”- Paper
Scientists argued thatDNA was very simple; they believed that DNA was a nucleic acid that stores and transmits genetic information from generation to generation. However, little did they know that they were very wrong.Daniel James Devine, a very smart scientist stated in his article that ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA elements) had made many experiments to show that all of the DNA parts have a specific and colossalpurpose for humans. Apparently, scientists knew only 2% of what DNA was, and what functions it had. They thought that because they did not know what were the purposes of the 98% of DNA, it was “junk”,or worthless. Why would people think that just because they don’t know something, the rest is useless? Why would people think that just because they don’t something, the rest does not have animportant purpose? It is like arguing that just because you only know the purpose of the eye, the rest of the human body is useless and completely worthless.
Scientists also believed that DNA was verysimplistic, but its actually very complex . DNA is like a jungle, the genome contains several layers of information, several dimensions of complexity. Scientists had no idea about what the “junk” of DNAcould do and what problems could it solve. The new discoveries of DNA, like the “ switches” can cure many dangerous diseases, like cancer, immune disorders, diabetes, schizophrenia and others. Theswitches can turn off certain genes, or slow down the production of a particular protein. If scientists discover where the switches are, they can “turn off” certain diseases. DNA is complex, it is notsimplistic, the results and studies are not complete.
Larry Moran, a biochemist at the University of Toronto said that the discoveries of DNA have a completely important role, “The creationists are...