Date: Tue, 06 Apr 1999 08:55:15 +0200
From: "Gatherer, D. (Derek)" <D.Gatherer@organon.nhe.akzonobel.nl>
Subject: RE: A more "sciency"-sounding mysticism.
To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Mills [mailto:mmills@fastlane.net]
Sent: Friday, April 02, 1999 6:42 AM
To: Memetics List
Subject: RE: A more "sciency"-sounding mysticism.
Mark:
Sounds like a 'group b' statement (genes things, memes things), but
that's not why I'm writing.
Derek:
Yes, I do fall into group b, as you say.
Mark:
Would you agree that genes are Open Reading frames?
Derek:
No, because not all open reading frames are genes, ie. an ORF is not enough
for a gene, so they are not exactly equivalent. I suppose you could day
that the set of genes sits within the set of ORFs.
Mark:
And that Open
Reading Frames are defined as:
"ORF: An open reading frame, as defined by the yeast systematic
sequencing effort, consists of a stretch of DNA beginning with an 'ATG'
(methionine codon) and containing a total of at least 100 non-terminating
codons. Therefore real ORFs with shorter reading frames will not be
reported (false negatives), and pseudo ORFs with 100 codons or more will
be erroneously reported (false positives). For now, only ORFs associated
with a gene name can be trusted to encode protein."
Derek:
That's a fair enough definition of an ORF, but note that it excludes all
ORFs under 100bp, so it is actually a restricted definition of ORFs.
Mark:
If an open reading frame is a gene (my assertion), then isn't it an
abstraction? They are 'real' only if a process exists capable of reading
them.
Derek:
No, they are real in the sense that they are there 'in the flesh'.
Mark:
I am uncertain what you mean by 'abstraction.'
Derek:
I'm concerned to combat notions that memes are 'just abstractions'. I have
no novel definition of abstraction to offer in this context.
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