Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of the study of life’s diversity and relatedness at the molecular level is the movement of genes across species lines - HGT. It turns out that HGT has been widespread and important.
What's in a minimal cell? This is very close to the basic requirements of life as we know it. For a full 17 percent of the genes we have no clear idea of what they do.
Yet another bio-engineered solution without (much of) a problem: inserting extra genes into apples turns off the enzyme responsible for apples turning brown.
How is a heart cell different from a brain cell? Just as orchestras can perform one piece of music in many different ways, different types of cells can express the same genes differently.
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