I think it’s a natural human tendency, when you read something, you tend to read a lot of your prejudices into it. And neuroscience is like a lot of disciplines – it has fashions; things change. Sam Kean Read Quote
Mutations can arise anywhere in the genome, in gene DNA and noncoding DNA alike. But mutations to genes have bigger consequences: They can disable proteins and kill a creature. Sam Kean Read Quote
Junk DNA – or, as scientists call it nowadays, noncoding DNA – remains a mystery: No one knows how much of it is essential for life. Sam Kean Read Quote
Even if we never cure a single disease, the Human Genome Project and other ventures will have been worth it. Sam Kean Read Quote
The inability to trace DNA to actual diseases has serious consequences. As does the opposite problem – not being able to trace diseases back to DNA. Sam Kean Read Quote
Despite its obscurity, probably no element on the periodic table has as colorful a history as antimony. Money, madness, poison, linguistics, charlatanism, sex – pretty much every theme that runs through the periodic table can be found in Element 51. Sam Kean Read Quote
Things look especially bleak for common killers such as diabetes and heart disease. Those ailments clearly have a genetic component. But when scientists survey genes looking for which mutations patients have in common, they come up empty. Sam Kean Read Quote
Most organisms have loads of junk DNA – less pejoratively, noncoding DNA – cluttering their cells. Sam Kean Read Quote
The humped bladderwort has yellow, snapdragon-like flowers, and it’s actually carnivorous, capable of trapping and eating not just insects but even tadpoles and tiny fish. Sam Kean Read Quote
