Showing posts with label codon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label codon. Show all posts

Friday, July 10, 2009

Asking "Why?" in biology

I was talking to a colleague this morning about genetics and the genetic code. I asked him why it used only 20 of the amino acids, when there are many, many more that could be used. His response was interesting... he said,

"Why"-questions don't usually have satisfactory answers in biology.

As it turns out, it's the why-questions that interest me the most. I remember taking genetics back during my undergrad days, and being floored by how the cell does what it does. All those membranes, substances and molecules moving to the right place at the right time. The prof and textbook frequently used personification to describe the cell, as if it had its own intelligence and will. But it's just a machine! Bridging THAT gap is what interests me.

This blog post is from
intelligent-falling.blogspot.com