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The human genome is full of viruses

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Re: The human genome is full of viruses

#61

Post by bouncycastle »

taneq wrote: post #55
pergadad wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just in case this is not known, human generic code is more than just DNA. Most important parts of what encodes us are: - DNA - epigenetic markers on the DNA which modulate which parts of the DNA are active. You influence these and pass them on to your children (as men) and grandchildren (as women, as girls are born with all egg cells they'll ever have) - cell organelles which copy the DNA, ensure the cell has food an…

DNA isn’t data, or even code. DNA is a machine that builds things.

So, DNA is the compiled executable?

Re: The human genome is full of viruses

#62

Post by Retric »

crazygringo wrote: post #44

> Even after recovering from an infection there will always be a piece of that virus encoded within your DNA. I did a little research and this appears to be almost completely false . This sentence makes it sound like every time you get a cold, your body's DNA is permanently altered. Which would be insane if true. The reality is that this insane outcome is incredibly rare, but nevertheless has happened enough times ov…

The human body has around 40 trillion cells, and only DNA from one of gets passed on to each child. Considering how frequently that cell happened to be infected in human history the average person like has many individual cells with some new viral DNA. But, criticaly those changes are neither inherented by children or widespread across every cell.

In effect what’s being described is an interesting oddity rather than a significant effect on an individual level. Unless it happens to cause cancer, etc.

Re: The human genome is full of viruses

#63

Post by xg15 »

_bxg1 wrote: post #3

I've always thought of DNA as mere "data". "This goes here, that goes there", etc. And I've always wondered how such a relatively small amount of data could describe the massive complexity of a full-size organism. But this makes it sound like DNA is data the way Lisp is data: it can contain procedures and transformations and meta-statements about itself, and even mutate during the course of being interpreted. That wo…

> I've always thought of DNA as mere "data". "This goes here, that goes there", etc. And I've always wondered how such a relatively small amount of data could describe the massive complexity of a full-size organism.

I believe this is the wrong way to think about this. From what I understand, DNA (plus epigenetics, etc) is more like a firmware that encodes the behaviour of a single cell. ("If this happens, build that protein").

Out of trillions of cells, each following its respective copy of that "program", plus all the interactions between the cells, plus physics and plus effects from the environment, a complex organism emerges.

So, the complexity of the organism is the result of what is encoded in the DNA, but the DNA does not directly store it.

Re: The human genome is full of viruses

#64

Post by dharma1 »

Retric wrote: post #62
crazygringo wrote: post #44

> Even after recovering from an infection there will always be a piece of that virus encoded within your DNA. I did a little research and this appears to be almost completely false . This sentence makes it sound like every time you get a cold, your body's DNA is permanently altered. Which would be insane if true. The reality is that this insane outcome is incredibly rare, but nevertheless has happened enough times ov…

The human body has around 40 trillion cells, and only DNA from one of gets passed on to each child. Considering how frequently that cell happened to be infected in human history the average person like has many individual cells with some new viral DNA. But, criticaly those changes are neither inherented by children or widespread across every cell. In effect what’s being described is an interesting oddity rather than…

To pass a viral alteration of DNA to offspring, the retrovirus has to infect germline cells, which they usually don't - and in a way that produces a viable offspring, which is even rarer. That's not to say it doesn't happen over long enough time period - it clearly does.

From wikipedia-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_retrovirus

Most retroviruses infect somatic cells, but occasional infection of germline cells (cells that produce eggs and sperm) can also occur. Rarely, retroviral integration may occur in a germline cell that goes on to develop into a viable organism. This organism will carry the inserted retroviral genome as an integral part of its own genome—an "endogenous" retrovirus (ERV) that may be inherited by its offspring as a novel allele.

Re: The human genome is full of viruses

#65

Post by jhrmnn »

bouncycastle wrote: post #61
taneq wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DNA isn’t data, or even code. DNA is a machine that builds things.

So, DNA is the compiled executable?

Not sure what OP meant, but I wouldn’t say DNA is the machine. The ribosome is. But DNA is certainly much more than just code to build proteins. Or rather, it strongly interacts with its enviroment, so trying to understand its function in isolation will give you just the tip of an iceberg. In CS language, there is a lot of global state.

Re: The human genome is full of viruses

#66

Post by neuronic »

refurb wrote: post #23
_bxg1 wrote: post #3

I've always thought of DNA as mere "data". "This goes here, that goes there", etc. And I've always wondered how such a relatively small amount of data could describe the massive complexity of a full-size organism. But this makes it sound like DNA is data the way Lisp is data: it can contain procedures and transformations and meta-statements about itself, and even mutate during the course of being interpreted. That wo…

Yes, there are several layers of complexity that go beyond just the genetic sequence of a given gene. The sequence of the DNA also impacts thing like folding of DNA which impacts expression. And the intermediaries between the DNA and the protein (RNA), can also interact with the DNA itself to promote or retard expression. It’s incredibly complex really.

And I suspect that CRISPR and other tools will be far harder to use than expected by many, especially laymen.

Simply due to the combinatorics involved when exchanging sequences in DNA, for example introduced by resulting new epigenetic dynamics.

Re: The human genome is full of viruses

#67

Post by refurb »

neuronic wrote: post #66
refurb wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there are several layers of complexity that go beyond just the genetic sequence of a given gene. The sequence of the DNA also impacts thing like folding of DNA which impacts expression. And the intermediaries between the DNA and the protein (RNA), can also interact with the DNA itself to promote or retard expression. It’s incredibly complex really.

And I suspect that CRISPR and other tools will be far harder to use than expected by many, especially laymen. Simply due to the combinatorics involved when exchanging sequences in DNA, for example introduced by resulting new epigenetic dynamics.

Agreed!

Seems like most of the focus has been on correcting single nucleotide errors. That’s more straightforward than trying to insert a new gene.

Re: The human genome is full of viruses

#70

Post by kalium_xyz »

ourlordcaffeine wrote: post #47
crazygringo wrote: post #44

> Even after recovering from an infection there will always be a piece of that virus encoded within your DNA. I did a little research and this appears to be almost completely false . This sentence makes it sound like every time you get a cold, your body's DNA is permanently altered. Which would be insane if true. The reality is that this insane outcome is incredibly rare, but nevertheless has happened enough times ov…

In addition, only retroviruses are capable of altering DNA in such a manner. The common cold is not a retrovirus.

Sometimes it is, it depends on the virus causing it.
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