Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
That's why they go on about "information", it puts a new ill-defined concept into the mix that can be used to make claims without any real support.
Ultimately the DNA just results in the creation of many different molecules which all float around reacting with other molecules.
People think of DNA as a blueprint, but it's not.
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If this is indeed the case, then it does pose a serious problem when it comes to conveying this sort of information to the general public. Even in the link you provided—which was very helpful, and much appreciated—the analogous description of a gene as a "sentence" that conveys "instructions" is misleading. I am wondering if the misconception that the general public has developed with regards to DNA and genetics was inadvertently caused by the process through which the science community chose to describe these elements: the decision to attach letters to individual nucleotides in a sequence has provided for the incorrect assumption that DNA is a "language"; by its very description as a "code" (certainly a telling indicator of the limits of our own language), the false impression that genes amount to the accumulation of biological "information" is a natural conclusion at which to arrive.