"According to Bill Gates, one of the founders of Microsoft, “DNA is like a computer program but far, far more advanced than any software ever created.”
Here, Gates is referring to ‘the genome’—the set of instructions encoded in DNA that is used to control embryonic development (in humans to direct the growth of a baby from a fertilized egg) and the day-to-day workings of biological cells.
More than that, human genes are composed of sets of DNA ‘letters’ divided into sections known as ‘introns’ and ‘exons’. After the DNA is copied, the introns have to be removed and the remaining exons joined together.
Different exons are combined in different ways to produce many different instructions. These, in turn, are used to produce different proteins at different times, and the proteins produced vary from one cell type to another. In fact, the human genome has a massive ‘splicing and dicing’ system that ‘cuts and pastes’ DNA, swapping exons around in a very complex way.
A single exon might be included in many different genes, some of which code for (specify the form of) proteins that have little similarity.
In beholding the beauty and intricacy of the biological world we should surely echo the words of King David to God in Psalm 139:14, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
CMI
Here, Gates is referring to ‘the genome’—the set of instructions encoded in DNA that is used to control embryonic development (in humans to direct the growth of a baby from a fertilized egg) and the day-to-day workings of biological cells.
DNA can be read forwards and backwards, and different instructions can often overlap, even in reverse.
Different exons are combined in different ways to produce many different instructions. These, in turn, are used to produce different proteins at different times, and the proteins produced vary from one cell type to another. In fact, the human genome has a massive ‘splicing and dicing’ system that ‘cuts and pastes’ DNA, swapping exons around in a very complex way.
A single exon might be included in many different genes, some of which code for (specify the form of) proteins that have little similarity.
In beholding the beauty and intricacy of the biological world we should surely echo the words of King David to God in Psalm 139:14, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
CMI
