Decoding

By Eric Thomas

Science is perfect in its answers. We just have to find the right questions to ask. When Carl, an artistic dreamer with a troubled mind takes on the challenge of thinking in a scientific manner, treasures are found that have implications for every man on Earth. Sometimes you have to wonder if you really want to know the answer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: May 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9780228812951

Eric Thomas

I emigrated to Sydney, Australia with my family in 1980 taking my career in Advertising to a different level, and developed the writing bug in 1996 on a return visit to the UK. I spent some time there writing a pictorial autobiography for a photographer friend, and then entered the world of fiction. I still live with my wife on the picturesque Central Coast of New South Wales, and in close proximity to our Three children and Eleven grandchildren.

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DECODING

Eric Thomas

Decoding

Copyright © 2019 by Eric Thomas

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-1294-4 (Hardcover)

978-0-2288-1293-7 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-1295-1 (eBook)

Introduction

There is a secret place I go when the ideas in my head don’t flow and clouds blow through my mind. Here is a quiet corner of God’s Earth which only geckos, flies, crickets, and other assorted bugs call home. The odd bird or butterfly visits, but only to rest on their way to somewhere else. The air is hot and dry, but a small cave affords some relief from the sun. Once in a while a scent of nature following the breeze draws my attention, but otherwise there are no distractions.

In this place I can sit on one of the two rocks nature placed here for me to rest and dream to my heart’s content. One rock is in the sun, the other in the shelter of the cave for use when the mid-day heat becomes too much to bear. There are dreams of the state of the world, politics, the old neighbourhood, family, and baseball, but most of the time the inspiration comes from my work in biochemistry and genetics. After spending much of my working life speaking in technical terms, it is always difficult to explain to friends and relatives exactly what it is I do. Most people have heard of DNA and sequencing mainly because of its use in law enforcement for identification purposes or researching ancestry. The science behind the sequencing and manipulation of the DNA molecule is quite complicated, even though we are still in the early days of understanding it. Here is the summary of what I do, written in the simplest way that I can think of. If you do not grasp the concepts, you are not alone. Take in what you can and ask questions.

Ever since DNA was found to be the vehicle for heredity, people have investigated this strange double helical molecule to see what secrets it holds by deciphering the messages created by the four nucleotides that make up DNA: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). The order of these nucleotides in the DNA determines the instructions for the body. Each bit of information has four possibilities using A, C, G, or T that are linked together like beads on a string. This is a system similar to writing, where letters of the alphabet are placed together in a string to form a word that can be read. While some of the nucleotide strings, also called sequences, code for the proteins that create, regulate, and repair our bodies, these are a very small part of the whole — about 20%. The rest was once referred to as junk DNA, implying it has no function. In studying biology, I have noticed that nature abhors junk and gets rid of it as soon as it becomes a burden to carry around. Junk just uses energy unnecessarily and complicates the system by making it more prone to errors. It’s like carrying a 20-pound knapsack around full of items you won’t use. It takes energy and really only increases the likelihood of losing or damaging important items. So, why has nature held on to it? It must be important. And this leads to the question, what is the purpose of this junk DNA we all carry? The answers, I’m sure, will lead to more questions. The 20/80 rule states that 20% of a carpet will get 80% of the use. This does not mean the other 80% of the carpet is junk. We know it has a purpose; it is just not used as much as the rest. This rule applies to many things in life and I believe that the same applies to DNA. Twenty per cent of the DNA will get 80% of the use. It is the other 80% or so-called junk of the molecule that holds my interest and my thoughts. This 80% has become the essence of my research. It likely only does 20% of the work, but as of yet we do not know what that job entails.

I look for messages in this less used part. Since the code is over 99% the same in all human beings, even this