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> Gene" is often used as a technical term to refer to a stretch of DNA that produces a protein. How does something like pleiotropy happen if a gene simply code
by grandalf 9y ago
> Gene" is often used as a technical term to refer to a stretch of DNA that produces a protein.
How does something like pleiotropy happen if a gene simply codes for a protein? Is the thing that is pleiotropic actually the protein?
- thaumasiotes 9y agoWell, in the first place, I think my original comment was pretty clear that the word "gene" is used in multiple senses. For example, the words immediately following your quote are "if it's being used that way here...". In the much less important second place, it shouldn't be hard to imagine that two different phenotypical processes might both be cued by the presence of the same chemical.
- dekhn 9y agoThe ontology of genetics is not isomorphc with the actual physical methods by which phenotypes are expressed. Think of genetics (and the content that a gene codes for proteins) as a first order approximation to the actual underlying mechanics, or as the primary component in a multidimensional, nonlinear, feedback driven system.