Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 02:32:51 -0400
From: Dr I Price <PEWLEYFORT@compuserve.com>
Subject: gene replication [was Defining Memes }
To: "INTERNET:memetics@mmu.ac.uk" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Hans
Thank you for
----------------------------------
>I think you undertand wrongly, but the frase 'context' makes it =
difficult to assess. Dna in a testtube does not self-replicate. It =
needs a lot of enzymes and other things that are present in the cell. =
The trick is that genes do transcribe for this replciation themselves. Bu=
t
at =
time t-1 there has to be something produced so at time t replciation =
can take place. So if you take the word 'context' and say 'ok this is =
part of the context', then you understand it right, but I am not sure =
if this is what you mean.
Genes code for enzymes ( RE I will call them) doing replication at
t, given the decoding- enzymes (I will call DCE) they coded for at t-1. I=
t
is a cycle, and if
you remove the enzymes needed for this replication (RE) the cell will =
not show dna replciation. So DNA has no inherent structure to replicate
itself. It only replicates when RE-enzymes are ready.
These RE enzymes that are needed to replciate are coded for, but often
gene A that is being red does not code for the DCA enzyme that pro0duces
the decoding of gene a.
Is that more clear, or am I producing more confusion? <
-------------end quote--------------------
I think it is clear and I think what you say is what I would accept as
context. I simply do not know enough about genetics.
I suspect it is a question of scale. Be aware I was once a geologist so
tend to gloss over details at scales less than a few 100,000 years. I
completely, I hope, see the point about the detail. I am still though
struck by the observation that the molecular structure of the double heli=
x
grants it the power - given again this messy thing called context - to
replicate. The only other chemical structure I know of hypothesised to do=
this is the Cairns-Smith clay mineral hypothesis for the origin of life.
May be I am metaphysical but I am struck by by the sheer simplicity of th=
e
hypothesis of a secong or third level of replicator; perhaps one that can=
exploit quantum/wave frequencies a step higher than the poor old gene [se=
e
my correspondence with Mark Mills].
Sorry if I am drifting into geo-scalethinking and avoiding the detail.
If Price
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit