Former Junk DNA Candidate Proves Indispensable | The Institute for Creation Research

Former Junk DNA Candidate Proves Indispensable
BY *  | 
MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2014

Some of the primary candidates for being labeled "Junk DNA" have been the highly repetitive regions of the genome that, after years of study, seemed to have no discernable function despite the fact they were found to be actively copied (transcribed) into RNA. However, new research has shown that the RNAs encoded by these regions are key players in promoting genome stability and function.1

Scientists first realized that some long non-coding RNA molecules (that don’t code for a protein) could specifically spread across chromosomes and modify their function during their study of the Xist gene (X inactive-specific transcript) which is located on the X chromosome.2 In the cells of female mammals, one of the X chromosomes becomes inactivated by transcripts produced from the Xist gene that literally coats the chromosome in a blanket of Xist RNAs.

But what about the rest of the genome? Do other chromosomes produce long RNAs that specifically coat them and perform some sort of broad chromosomal purpose? The answer is yes, and the DNA sequences that produce these RNAs were once considered the top candidates for "Junk DNA." As it turns out, they are not junk at all, but indispensable features in engineering the functional matrix of chromosomes.

Early in the study of DNA, scientists recognized a large fraction of the genome they labeled COT-1, which was full of highly repetitive elements (simple DNA sequences repeated over and over). Now research is showing that a majority of the genome is transcribed (copied into RNA), including this COT-1 fraction—whose function was previously unknown.3,4

In this recent study, it was shown that these COT-1 RNA molecules are literally painted across the functionally active regions of chromosomes—called euchromatin.1 Hence, these molecules are called "euchromatin-associated RNAs" or ecRNAs. In contrast to the Xist RNAs that shut down chromosome activity, these ecRNAs do exactly the opposite: they promote an active local environment of genetic functionality. In simplest terms, they help create an RNA matrix surrounding the chromosomes that promotes gene functionality.

Amazingly, these ecRNAs persist in experiments when the chromosomes are destroyed. Clearly they are very stable and an important part of the chromosomal matrix in the cell nucleus. In fact, when the ecRNAs themselves were destroyed with an enzyme called RNase, the chromosomes rapidly condensed and collapsed. If it were not for the presence of the ecRNAs, chromosome stability and function would not even be possible!

While nearly all the other types of former "Junk DNA" have been debunked, this most recent study is truly the icing on the cake. The seemingly most scientifically neglected and scoffed at sequences in the genome are now appearing to be the key elements involved in constructing the functional matrix that allows chromosomes to operate.

References

  1. Hall, L.L. et al. 2014. Stable C0T-1 Repeat RNA Is Abundant and Is Associated with Euchromatic Interphase Chromosomes. Cell. 156 (5): 907–919.
  2. Sado, T. and N. Brockdorff. 2013. Advances in understanding chromosome silencing by the long non-coding RNA Xist. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 2013, 368 (1609): 20110325.
  3. Djebali, S. et al. 2012. Landscape of Transcription in Human Cells. Nature. 489 (7414): 101-108.
  4. Hangauer, M. J., I. W. Vaughn, and M. T. McManus. 2013. Pervasive Transcription of the Human Genome Produces Thousands of Previously Unidentified Long Intergenic Noncoding RNAs. PLoS Genetics. 9 (6): e1003569.

*Dr. Tomkins is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and received his Ph.D. in genetics from Clemson University.

Article posted on April 14, 2014.

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	Some are concerned that global warming will melt the polar ice caps and lead to a rise in global sea level. Is this really happening?

    [abstract_edit] => 

	



	



	Some are concerned that global warming will melt the polar ice caps and lead to a rise in global sea level. Is this really happening?

    [stage] => 

	

    [stage_edit] => 

	

    [body] => 

	Some are concerned that global warming will cause the polar ice caps to melt, leading to an increase in global sea level. If such a rise in sea level occurred slowly, coastal peoples would have time to adjust to the change. But many are concerned that sea level could rise rapidly, leading to a humanitarian catastrophe.



	Although some scientists claim that satellite and tide-gauge data confirm a rapidly rising sea level, others are skeptical. In fact, two Australian scientists, Dr. Albert Parker and Dr. Clifford Ollier, have recently charged that Indian Ocean sea-level data for the last 140 years were manipulated to show a dramatic rise in sea level, even though the raw data showed that sea level had remained steady, or even dropped.1,2,3



	Indian Ocean sea-level data for the last 140 years were manipulated to show a dramatic rise in sea level, even though the raw data showed that sea level had remained steady, or even dropped. Tweet: Indian Ocean sea-level data for the last 140 years were manipulated to show a dramatic rise in sea level, even though the raw data showed that sea level had remained steady, or even dropped.

Is Global Sea Level Rising? http://www.icr.org/article/10403/

@icrscience



	Concerns over sea level rise are also being stoked by the way secular scientists interpret chemical wiggles within deep-seafloor sediments. These chemical wiggles (called oxygen isotope ratios) are thought to serve as “proxy” or “stand in” values for global ice volume: higher oxygen isotope ratios (denoted by the symbol δ18O) are thought to indicate ice ages, and lower values are thought to correspond to warmer “interglacial” periods.



	When water freezes to form ice, less of Earth’s total water is available to remain liquid. Since the total mass of water on Earth remains essentially constant, an increase in global ice volume should result in a decrease in global mean sea level, and vice versa. This means that δ18O values can presumably indicate past global sea levels.



	Most secular scientists assume the validity of the astronomical (or Milankovitch) ice age theory, which posits that ice ages are caused by slow, gradual changes in Earth’s orbital and rotational motions, which in turn are thought to affect the way sunlight is distributed on the Earth. Then they use astronomical calculations to infer times in the supposed prehistoric past when these sunlight variations are thought to have resulted in ice ages, and then these ages are assigned to the peak δ18O values.



	Then they use these ages to calculate past rates of sea level rise. These calculated rates have led secular scientists to worry about possible future catastrophic global flooding.



	Oceanographer Wolfgang Berger asked:



	Just when can we expect to see a rapid rise of sea level, ten times higher than the present values of a few millimeters per year? We do not know. All we can say, from experience with the many millennia of the ice-age records in the deep sea, is that once melting starts, it stimulates further melting for centuries. Deglaciation keeps going once begun in earnest: a great example of the dilemma of the sorcerer’s apprentice.4



	What Berger is calling “experience” is just a Milankovitch interpretation of the seafloor sediment data. But if the Milankovitch theory is wrong, then the ages assigned to the seafloor sediments are completely fictitious, as are the calculated rates of past sea level rise!



	If the Milankovitch theory is wrong, then the ages assigned to the seafloor sediments are completely fictitious, as are the calculated rates of past sea level rise! Tweet: If the Milankovitch theory is wrong, then the ages assigned to the seafloor sediments are completely fictitious, as are the calculated rates of past sea level rise!

Is Global Sea Level Rising? http://www.icr.org/article/10403/

@icrscience



	Despite its popularity, there are many problems with the astronomical theory.5 Moreover, recent ICR research has raised serious doubts about a key argument for the theory presented in a well-known paper titled “The Pacemaker of the Ice Ages.”6 The argument is so important that last year the journals Science and Nature both ran articles commemorating the paper’s 40th anniversary.7,8 More than a year later, secular scientists have yet to respond to this new research. Of course, they would probably claim that there is additional evidence for the theory, so that the theory is confirmed even without the Pacemaker paper’s validity. But if the Pacemaker paper is not essential to the argument for the Milankovitch theory, then why are supporters of the theory so reluctant to candidly acknowledge the paper’s problems?



	Since the argument for a rapidly rising sea level inferred from seafloor sediments is logically invalid, then evidence for such a claim, if it exists, can only come from satellite and tide-gauge data. Given the history of data manipulation in this field,9 including these recent allegations regarding Indian Ocean data, such claims should be heavily scrutinized before being accepted as valid. 



	References


    
	
  1. 
		Parker, A. and C. D. Ollier. 2017. Is the Sea Level Stable at Aden, Yemen? Earth Systems and Environment. 1: 18. doi.org/10.1007/s41748-017-0020-z.
    2. 
	
  2. 
		Richard, K. ‘Adjustments’ to Create Spurious Sea Level Rise Have Now Infected the PSMSL Tide Gauge Data. Posted at notrickszone.com December 4, 2017, accessed December 12, 2017.
    3. 
	
  3. 
		Delingpole, J. 2017. Tidalgate: Climate Alarmists Caught Faking Sea Level Rise. Posted at breitbart.com on December 6, 2017, accessed December 12, 2017.
    4. 
	
  4. 
		Berger, W. H. 2012. Milankovitch Theory—Hits and Misses. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, 16. Emphasis added.
    5. 
	
  5. 
		Oard, M. J. 2007. Astronomical troubles for the astronomical hypothesis of ice ages. Journal of Creation. 21 (3): 19-23.
    6. 
	
  6. 
		Hebert, J. 2016. Revisiting an Iconic Argument for Milankovitch Climate Forcing: Should the "Pacemaker of the Ice Ages" Paper Be Retracted? Part 3. Answers Reserach Journal. 9:229-255.
    7. 
	
  7. 
		Hodell, D. A. 2016. The smoking gun of the ice ages. Science. 354 (6317): 1235-1236.
    8. 
	
  8. 
		Maslin, M. 2016. Forty years of linking orbits to ice ages. Nature. 540 (7632): 208-210.
    9. 
	
  9. 
		McIntyre, S. and R. McKitrick. 2005. Hockey sticks, principal components, and spurious significance. Geophysical Research Letters. 32, L03710.
    10. 




	*Dr. Jake Hebert is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.



	Article posted on January 4, 2018.

    [body_edit] => 

	Some are concerned that global warming will cause the polar ice caps to melt, leading to an increase in global sea level. If such a rise in sea level occurred slowly, coastal peoples would have time to adjust to the change. But many are concerned that sea level could rise rapidly, leading to a humanitarian catastrophe.



	Although some scientists claim that satellite and tide-gauge data confirm a rapidly rising sea level, others are skeptical. In fact, two Australian scientists, Dr. Albert Parker and Dr. Clifford Ollier, have recently charged that Indian Ocean sea-level data for the last 140 years were manipulated to show a dramatic rise in sea level, even though the raw data showed that sea level had remained steady, or even dropped.1,2,3



	Indian Ocean sea-level data for the last 140 years were manipulated to show a dramatic rise in sea level, even though the raw data showed that sea level had remained steady, or even dropped. Tweet: Indian Ocean sea-level data for the last 140 years were manipulated to show a dramatic rise in sea level, even though the raw data showed that sea level had remained steady, or even dropped.

Is Global Sea Level Rising? http://www.icr.org/article/10403/

@icrscience



	Concerns over sea level rise are also being stoked by the way secular scientists interpret chemical wiggles within deep-seafloor sediments. These chemical wiggles (called oxygen isotope ratios) are thought to serve as “proxy” or “stand in” values for global ice volume: higher oxygen isotope ratios (denoted by the symbol δ18O) are thought to indicate ice ages, and lower values are thought to correspond to warmer “interglacial” periods.



	When water freezes to form ice, less of Earth’s total water is available to remain liquid. Since the total mass of water on Earth remains essentially constant, an increase in global ice volume should result in a decrease in global mean sea level, and vice versa. This means that δ18O values can presumably indicate past global sea levels.



	Most secular scientists assume the validity of the astronomical (or Milankovitch) ice age theory, which posits that ice ages are caused by slow, gradual changes in Earth’s orbital and rotational motions, which in turn are thought to affect the way sunlight is distributed on the Earth. Then they use astronomical calculations to infer times in the supposed prehistoric past when these sunlight variations are thought to have resulted in ice ages, and then these ages are assigned to the peak δ18O values.



	Then they use these ages to calculate past rates of sea level rise. These calculated rates have led secular scientists to worry about possible future catastrophic global flooding.



	Oceanographer Wolfgang Berger asked:



	Just when can we expect to see a rapid rise of sea level, ten times higher than the present values of a few millimeters per year? We do not know. All we can say, from experience with the many millennia of the ice-age records in the deep sea, is that once melting starts, it stimulates further melting for centuries. Deglaciation keeps going once begun in earnest: a great example of the dilemma of the sorcerer’s apprentice.4



	What Berger is calling “experience” is just a Milankovitch interpretation of the seafloor sediment data. But if the Milankovitch theory is wrong, then the ages assigned to the seafloor sediments are completely fictitious, as are the calculated rates of past sea level rise!



	If the Milankovitch theory is wrong, then the ages assigned to the seafloor sediments are completely fictitious, as are the calculated rates of past sea level rise! Tweet: If the Milankovitch theory is wrong, then the ages assigned to the seafloor sediments are completely fictitious, as are the calculated rates of past sea level rise!

Is Global Sea Level Rising? http://www.icr.org/article/10403/

@icrscience



	Despite its popularity, there are many problems with the astronomical theory.5 Moreover, recent ICR research has raised serious doubts about a key argument for the theory presented in a well-known paper titled “The Pacemaker of the Ice Ages.”6 The argument is so important that last year the journals Science and Nature both ran articles commemorating the paper’s 40th anniversary.7,8 More than a year later, secular scientists have yet to respond to this new research. Of course, they would probably claim that there is additional evidence for the theory, so that the theory is confirmed even without the Pacemaker paper’s validity. But if the Pacemaker paper is not essential to the argument for the Milankovitch theory, then why are supporters of the theory so reluctant to candidly acknowledge the paper’s problems?



	Since the argument for a rapidly rising sea level inferred from seafloor sediments is logically invalid, then evidence for such a claim, if it exists, can only come from satellite and tide-gauge data. Given the history of data manipulation in this field,9 including these recent allegations regarding Indian Ocean data, such claims should be heavily scrutinized before being accepted as valid. 



	References


    
	
  1. 
		Parker, A. and C. D. Ollier. 2017. Is the Sea Level Stable at Aden, Yemen? Earth Systems and Environment. 1: 18. doi.org/10.1007/s41748-017-0020-z.
    2. 
	
  2. 
		Richard, K. ‘Adjustments’ to Create Spurious Sea Level Rise Have Now Infected the PSMSL Tide Gauge Data. Posted at notrickszone.com December 4, 2017, accessed December 12, 2017.
    3. 
	
  3. 
		Delingpole, J. 2017. Tidalgate: Climate Alarmists Caught Faking Sea Level Rise. Posted at breitbart.com on December 6, 2017, accessed December 12, 2017.
    4. 
	
  4. 
		Berger, W. H. 2012. Milankovitch Theory—Hits and Misses. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, 16. Emphasis added.
    5. 
	
  5. 
		Oard, M. J. 2007. Astronomical troubles for the astronomical hypothesis of ice ages. Journal of Creation. 21 (3): 19-23.
    6. 
	
  6. 
		Hebert, J. 2016. Revisiting an Iconic Argument for Milankovitch Climate Forcing: Should the "Pacemaker of the Ice Ages" Paper Be Retracted? Part 3. Answers Reserach Journal. 9:229-255.
    7. 
	
  7. 
		Hodell, D. A. 2016. The smoking gun of the ice ages. Science. 354 (6317): 1235-1236.
    8. 
	
  8. 
		Maslin, M. 2016. Forty years of linking orbits to ice ages. Nature. 540 (7632): 208-210.
    9. 
	
  9. 
		McIntyre, S. and R. McKitrick. 2005. Hockey sticks, principal components, and spurious significance. Geophysical Research Letters. 32, L03710.
    10. 




	*Dr. Jake Hebert is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.



	Article posted on January 4, 2018.

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