Fact: Introns have many many more nucleotides than exonsWhy is so much DNA devoted to introns, and less devoted to creating exons?
Exons code for proteins, which we know for a fact are necessary for life. It was thought that introns were mainly ';junk';, but in reality, as it has been discovered, they may function in higher order regulation of expression. Moreover, they allow for alternative splicing of exons and the making of different proteins from the same number of genes. Recently, I read about products (mRNA) of introns whose sole purpose is to stop other mRNAs coded from exons from being translated. There is a ton of info about his on pubmed if you want to know more.Why is so much DNA devoted to introns, and less devoted to creating exons?
DNA damage occurs when replication is done. I forget the exact number of errors per replication, but lets say it is 1 per 1,000,000 replications. You make a lot of cells in your life! In order to reduce the ffects of these errors, we have introns. Statistically, the error is more likely to occur in the intron, and the exon (which then becomes coded for a gene) will be saved!
No comments:
Post a Comment