The Chinese Junk

The role of Junk DNA

Many efforts have been done in order to explain the role of junk DNA, but its function remain to be elucidated. In addition the GC-content variations among species still represent an enigma. Both these two mysteries can have a common explanation: we hypothesize that the role of junk DNA is to preserve the mutations probability that is intrinsically reduced in GC-poorest genomes.

The Case for Junk DNA

With the advent of deep sequencing technologies and the ability to analyze whole genome sequences and transcriptomes, there has been a growing interest in exploring putative functions of the very large fraction of the genome that is commonly referred to as ‘‘junk DNA.’’ Whereas this is an issue of considerable importance in genome biology, there is an unfortunate tendency for researchers and sc...

e-Junk explosion.

Background: The Viridiplantae comprise two major phyla: the Streptophyta, containing the charophycean green algae and all land plants, and the Chlorophyta, containing the remaining green algae. Despite recent progress in unravelling phylogenetic relationships among major green plant lineages, problematic nodes still remain in the green tree of life. One of the major issues concerns the scaly bi...

Junk Representations Lawrence

Many philosophers and psychologists who approach the issue of representation from a computational or measurement theoretical perspective end up having to deny the possibility of junk representations—representations present in an organism's head but that enter into no psychological processes or produce no behaviour. However, I argue, a more functional perspective makes the possibility of junk re...

Junk food thoughts.