3 ms·

Is there such a thing as degrees of gene expression? I thought it was more like a truth table

throwaway4aday 4y ago
Here's an interesting article that also explains how multiple copies of genes can alter certain traits https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12381-duplicate-genes-help-humans-go-the-extra-mile/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12381-duplicate-genes...
331c8c71 4y ago
There are many mechanisms that influence the gene transcription and/or availability of gene products the keyword is "gene expression regulation". One way that happens for instance is packing/unpacking of the chromatin (genes in densely packed chromatin are not accessible). The trick is that chromatin can easily pack or unpack depending on what is going on around. Another simpler possibility is that there is a molecule that binds (stochastically) near promoter region (the place from which the gene is being transcribed) and hence influences the rate at which the gene is transcribed.
mnw21cam 4y ago
Yes, definitely. Like most things that evolve over time (like laws and spaghetti code), the mechanics of gene regulation are incredibly complicated, diverse, and messy. It's an analogue system too.
sinenomine 4y ago
There is a whole multitude of gene expression regulation mechanisms, which evolution successfully used to express whole nonlinear dynamical systems[1] appropriate to the task. These systems are partially understood[2] (there are promoter libraries[3], known cis- and trans- regulatory elements, activators and repressors, etc) and can be simulated[4][5] well enough to be of use for tailoring[6] single-celled organisms to a specific biotechnological task at hand. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_gene_expression#Circuitry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_gene_expression#... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_biology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_biology 3. http://rulai.cshl.edu/cgi-bin/TRED/tred.cgi?process=home http://rulai.cshl.edu/cgi-bin/TRED/tred.cgi?process=home 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBML https://github.com/SysBioChalmers/Human-GEM https://github.com/SysBioChalmers/Human-GEM 5. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-019-1730-3 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-019-1730-3 6. https://biotechnologyforbiofuels.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13068-019-1518-4 https://biotechnologyforbiofuels.biomedcentral.com/articles/...

Here's an interesting article that also explains how multiple copies of genes can alter certain traits https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12381-duplicate-genes-help-humans-go-the-extra-mile/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12381-duplicate-genes...

331c8c71 4y ago

There are many mechanisms that influence the gene transcription and/or availability of gene products the keyword is "gene expression regulation". One way that happens for instance is packing/unpacking of the chromatin (genes in densely packed chromatin are not accessible). The trick is that chromatin can easily pack or unpack depending on what is going on around. Another simpler possibility is that there is a molecule that binds (stochastically) near promoter region (the place from which the gene is being transcribed) and hence influences the rate at which the gene is transcribed.

mnw21cam 4y ago

Yes, definitely. Like most things that evolve over time (like laws and spaghetti code), the mechanics of gene regulation are incredibly complicated, diverse, and messy. It's an analogue system too.

sinenomine 4y ago

There is a whole multitude of gene expression regulation mechanisms, which evolution successfully used to express whole nonlinear dynamical systems[1] appropriate to the task. These systems are partially understood[2] (there are promoter libraries[3], known cis- and trans- regulatory elements, activators and repressors, etc) and can be simulated[4][5] well enough to be of use for tailoring[6] single-celled organisms to a specific biotechnological task at hand. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_gene_expression#Circuitry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_gene_expression#... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_biology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_biology 3. http://rulai.cshl.edu/cgi-bin/TRED/tred.cgi?process=home http://rulai.cshl.edu/cgi-bin/TRED/tred.cgi?process=home 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBML https://github.com/SysBioChalmers/Human-GEM https://github.com/SysBioChalmers/Human-GEM 5. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-019-1730-3 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-019-1730-3 6. https://biotechnologyforbiofuels.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13068-019-1518-4 https://biotechnologyforbiofuels.biomedcentral.com/articles/...