Sandwalk

It's been almost three years since I created a blog post on What is the "dark matter of the genome"?.

I recently came across a paper in Nature on alternate RNA decoding.

Eclipsed Horizons: Unveiling the Darfk Genome is a book by Sudhakaran Prabakaran that promotes the idea of a dark genome and challenges the concept of a genome that's mostly junk DNA.

We visited Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada).

Intelligent Design Creationists have convinced themselves that there's no junk DNA in the human genome.

The best scenario for the origin of life is that it first arose in hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean.

Amgen Inc. is a major pharmaceutical company based in Thousand Oaks, California (USA).

Most of us were taught that plants are the main source of fixing carbon from carbon dioxide.

There are about 20,000 protein-coding genes in the human genome.

We all know that scientists at elite universities publish a lot more papers than scientists at other universities.

Most of the DNA in the human genome is transcribed at some point in development or in some cell type.

There is considerable debate in the scientific literature over the amount of junk DNA in the human genome.

This is weird.

There are somewhat less than 25,000 genes in the human genome and there are probably about the same number of pseudogenes.

Can modern biologists get along with modern philosphers of biology?

Can modern biologists get along with modern philosphers of biology?

The leading edge of the baby boomer generation is turning 80 this year (that's me!).

This is a serious question.

I've written quite a bit about the perceived conflict between science and philosophy and defended my view that science is best described in broad terms as a way of knowing that requires evidence, skepticism, and rational thinking.

I was intrigued by a recent article by Carlos Lozade in The New York Times: America Has Become a Dangerous Nation.

I once participated in a discussion about introducing indigenous ways of knowing in the Ontario science curriculum.

One of my Facebook friends posted a link to an article on genetic drift on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy website [Genetic Drift].

Happy St.

The Genetics Society has awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal to Joe Felsenstein.

Arlin Stoltfus wrote an excellent book where he makes the case for mutationism—the idea that the course of evolution is determined by the occurrence of particular mutations and not by adaptation based on an infinite supply of random mutations.

Getting a Ph.D. means that you become an expert in that subject and you have demonstrated that you can think critically enough to advance our knowledge and understanding.