Herding Hemingway’s Cats: Understanding How Our Genes Work
So genes are like gravity—but animals aren’t like atoms.
Tim Urban • Page Not Found — Wait But Why
The metaphor of DNA as a blueprint or instruction manual is not correct given the prevalence of transposons; rather it is “part library and part zoo, with the unruly creatures of the menagerie constantly tearing into the pages, creating mutation and mayhem” (p. 177).
Book review – Selfish Genes to Social Beings: A Cooperative History of Life,
... See more"Unlike other animals, cephalopods do not obey the commands of their DNA to the letter. Instead, they sometimes interfere with the code as it is being carried by a molecular “messenger”. RNA, a close cousin of DNA, is used to transfer software-like instructions from the genes to protein-making machinery in cells. This re-coding has the effect of... See more