Page 520 - Atlas of Creation Volume 3

reason? Geneticists are discover-
ing functions for what used to be
apparent genetic debris. 83

But how did they discover
that "junk DNA" is not junk
after all?

1. Coding criteria relative to
linguistic ability were dis-
covered in the non-coding
nucleotide sequence.

In 1994, the joint experi-

ments on non-coding DNA car-
ried out by molecular biologists
of Harvard Medical School and

physicists of Boston University
revealed some striking results.
Researchers studied 37 DNA se-
quences from various organ-
isms and having at least 50,000

base pairs, to determine if there
were any particular patterns in
the nucleotide arrangement.

This study showed that 90% of
human DNA, which was previ-
ously supposed to be junk, ac-
tually possessed structural
similarities to natural lan-

guages! 84 That is, a common
coding criterion found in every
spoken language in the world

was discovered to exist in the arrangement of nucleotides in DNA. This discovery provided no support for
the thesis that the data in the so-called junk DNA was assembled by chance; on the contrary, it supported a
superior Creation as the basis of life.

2. Repetitive heterochromatin shows an amazing functionality: Nucleotides that appear mean-
ingless by themselves perform important functions together and play a role in the meiotic divi-
sion.

Recently, scientists have discovered the functions of heterochromatin, one of the chromosome materials
formerly thought to be junk. This code is often repeated in DNA, and since its role in the production of any
protein could not be determined, it was long defined as meaningless.

Hubert Renauld and Susan Gasser of the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research comment
that despite heterochromatin's significant representation in the genome (up to 15% in human cells and
roughly 30% in flies), it has often been considered as "junk DNA," of no utility to the cell. 85
But the latest studies have revealed that heterochromatin has some important functions. Emile

Zuckerkandl of the Institute of Molecular Medical Sciences has this to say:

. . . [I]f one adds together nucleotides [DNA base pairs] that are individually nonfunctional, one may end up
with a sum of nucleotides that are collectively functional. Nucleotides belonging to chromatin are an example.

518 Atlas of Creation Vol. 3