Feeding Frenzy by Joseph Browning & Suzi Yee

Author:Joseph Browning & Suzi Yee [Browning, Joseph & Yee, Suzi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
Published: 2019-09-30T22:00:00+00:00

Epigenetics: the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself.

Tiring, she stretched her legs and did some calisthenics to get her blood pumping, and then dove back in, trying to pull together threads to weave them into something comprehensible. Biology 101: everything in the body comes down to proteins, and DNA is essentially a giant book of recipes for proteins—she recalled that much from her last biology class almost ten years ago.

It was thought that genes simply determined what would happen in an individual—you have Gene A, you have blue eyes; you have Gene B, you have brown hair—but after they finished sequencing the human genome, they discovered that most of the genetic material in DNA was not protein recipes. At first, it was regarded as filler—the genetic equivalent of white noise—but as more research occurred, it was thought to have a purpose. For example, the ends of chromosomes called telomeres were protective, making sure the bits clipped off during replication were junk instead of valuable genetic information.

As for the inscrutable parts in the middle of a string of DNA, scientists thought they were parameters on when a cell was supposed to make a particular protein—a genetic on-off switch. A distant memory wiggled deep in Martinez’s brain from the time she went to the genetic counselor with her mother when they found out breast cancer ran in their family. The counselor had referred to it as “genetic predisposition.” Just because you have a particular gene doesn’t mean the gene will be expressed, and other factors affect whether or not that gene is activated. Martinez felt like she was on a roll and hurried to her laptop to get her ruminations down before she lost her train of thought.

She then scrolled back over her notes from her interview with Dr. Dumont, the only person with a PhD in biology that she had spoken to in the course of investigating Forester. Forester wanted to know what was going on when a grasshopper turned into a locust. That sentence resonated with Martinez in light of all his recent articles. There were plenty of short-horned grasshoppers that remained solitary grasshoppers; what was going on inside the grasshopper that morphed into a gregarious feeding machine? What gene or genes was it turning on or off? Somewhere between “hormones, neurotransmitters, and inflammation biomarkers” was the underlying biology of aggression that Forester dedicated decades of his life to understanding. Was it possible that he found a way to flip the switch?

Her phone beeped and broke her concentration; it was a text from Wilson. We have a problem - L gone.

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