Junk DNA
A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the Genome

I studied the C programming language, and one of the things that was stressed was the danger of null pointers. A pointer is a type of variable that points directly to a location in memory, so it is a fast and efficient way to access data. However, when you create one, if you forget to set it to an i......more

A self-explanatory title, but not quite: the object of this book is to reveal the many ways in which so called “junk” DNA is nothing of the sort. About 98% of human DNA does not code for protein production, and this has traditionally been assigned the status of junk. But there are many ways in which......more

I’ve read Nessa Carey’s work before, in The Epigenetics Revolution, so I had high hopes for this — especially because it involves a lot more discussion of epigenetic modification of gene expression, and because genetics in general is something that fascinates me. If this is an interest of yours, the......more

6/5. maybe the best biology book i’ve ever read?? any interesting topic around genetics that i could think of was included. X-inactivation, telomeres and aging, etc etc etc. will it take me the rest of the year to truly understand what’s going on ? yeah probably. but still 6/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️......more

Great examination of just what "junk" DNA can do. When humans don't understand something, they often label it in such a way to suggest it does not matter. Labeling the non-coding portion of DNA as "junk" is just such a case. Carey provides the reader with myriad evidence about the wonderful role jun......more