3 ms·
Why DNA out of interest, could one imagine any other polymer being chosen for the purpose? Is the reason: - Stability? - The dynamics and specificity of ligat
by Myrmornis 11y ago
Why DNA out of interest, could one imagine any other polymer being chosen for the purpose? Is the reason:
- Stability?
- The dynamics and specificity of ligation between complementary sequences?
- Alphabet size -- is 4 a good choice?
- Enzymes exist that can carry out a lot of the necessary operations?
- Humans have developed a lot of expertise in manipulating DNA?
- ende 11y agoAll of the above! Dna is very stable (compared to, say, many proteins).. it is essentially the cell's harddrive, while mRNA is more like the memory. DNA is able to express complex information through sequences of a small number of states, is replicated and maintained through a highly conserved set of molecular machinery throughout life, and the human experience in manipulating it is approaching that of pushing electrons across silicon boards. The similarities are quite startling!