Page 521 - Atlas of Creation Volume 3

Harun Yahya

Despite all arguments made in the past in favor of considering heterochromatin as junk, many people active
in the field no longer doubt that it plays functional roles. . . . Nucleotides may individually be junk, and
collectively, gold. 86

One of these "collective" functions of heterochromatin can be seen in meiotic pairing. At the same
time, studies of artificial chromosomes show that these segments of DNA have various functions. 87

3. Researchers have shown a relationship between non-coding DNA and the cell nucleus—a

development that spells the end of the "junk DNA" concept.

A 1999 study examining the genomes of the single-celled photosynthetic organisms known as
Crytomonads discovered that eukaryotic non-coding DNA (also called secondary DNA) was functional

in the nucleus.
Characteristically, these organisms show a wide variation in size. But even if they are of varying di-
mensions, there always remains a direct proportion between the size of their nucleus and that of the
overall cell.

Seeing the proportion be-
tween the amount of non-
coding DNA and the size of
the nucleus, researchers con-

cluded that more non-cod-
ing DNA was a structural
necessity required in larger
nuclei. This new research

was a major blow to such
concepts as junk DNA and
Dawkins' "selfish" DNA
that dismiss the fact of

Creation. 88 The researchers
concluded their report by
saying:

Furthermore, the present
lack of significant amounts of

nucleomorph secondary DNA
. . . refut[es] "selfish" and "junk"
theories of secondary DNA. 89

4. Non-coding DNA was dis-
covered to be necessary for the
chromosome structure.

In the past few years, another important
role played by non-coding DNA has been dis-
covered: It is absolutely necessary for the struc-
ture and functioning of chromosomes. Studies

have shown that non-coding DNA provides the struc-
ture that lets DNA perform various functions—which it
cannot in the absence of a formed structure. Scientists ob-
served that elimination of a telomere (the DNA-protein

complexes at both ends of chromosomes that grow smaller

Adnan Oktar 519