Dr. Charles Ruark
DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is an extremely large molecule. It is the molecule that carries all of our genetic information. Our chromosomes are largely composed of DNA. There is one DNA molecule per one chromosome. Every human cell contains a diploid number of chromosomes or 46 chromosomes in pairs, one paternal and one maternal. All living organisms, with no exceptions, use DNA and the DNA code to survive. The haploid genome contains 23 chromosomes.
DNA is a complex molecule consisting of two polynucleotide chains bonded together to form a double helix. Visualize an extremely long ladder with its two poles connected by rungs. The rungs are the base pairs (A G C T) that contain the information. Each rung is a hydrogen bond: A-T, G-C, i.e., adenine bonds to thymine, guanine bonds to cytosine. There are no exceptions to this bonding which forms the basis for the code anywhere in Life.
The Sense and Nonsense Strands of DNA
Each base pair is worth 2-bits. One rung is designated the “sense strand”. The other rung is known as the nonsense or antisense strand. The sense strand carries the translatable code. The nonsense strand is used during transcription to form the mRNA molecule which carries the information to the ribosome. Now imagine giving the ladder a precise twist and you have the basic double helix.
Because the molecule needs pre-existing strands to replicate, DNA replication is described as semi-conservative. In other words, in order to replicate, there must exist a fully coded intact DNA molecule existing inside a living cell. DNA replication requires numerous highly specialized enzymes known as DNA polymerases. This semiconservative method of replication means that these enzymes had to simultaneously coexist along with an intact coded DNA molecule in a suitable medium (like the cell) for DNA replication to occur. The enzymes do not exist in nature for the synthesis of DNA de novo, i.e., from scratch.
DNA Has A Direction
In addition, each strand of DNA has a direction. Think of DNA as having a strand pointed north and a strand pointed south. We will designate the strand directed north as the 5’-3’ strand and the strand directed south as the 3’-5’ strand. It is an interesting property that in all of Life, DNA can only be replicated in a north direction or 5’-3’ direction. We will have much more to say about this in an article discussing the aging process in humans.
The human body has about 1e+14 cells containing DNA (roughly 80 trillion). Voet “Fundamentals of Biochemistry 5th Edition” p.1085. The earth is about 1.5e+11 meters from the sun. The contour length of the 23 chromosomes of the human cell comprising the 3 billion base pair human genome is about 1 meter, so the DNA of the human body contains about 1e+14 meters of DNA if stretched out from end to end, i.e., the contour length. Or 2e+14 meters if one accounts for the additional 23 chromosomes that form the diploid number that are found in every human cell. To put this into perspective, this is over 300-600 trips to the sun and back.
The Incredible Information Storage Capacity of DNA
No one has a clue how such vast quantities of genetic information can be scanned and accessed in a timely manner while stored in the nuclei of the cells of the body. The average human cell has a volume of about 5 thousand cubic micrometers or about 5 thousandths of a cubic millimeter. The volume of the average human nucleus is about one-tenth that of the overall cell or about five ten thousandths of a cubic millimeter. People talk about the size of the universe as being beyond human comprehension. However, we think that the compaction of this amount of information storage capacity into such miniature volumes is at least as incomprehensible. How could random chance create this amount of digital storage capacity?
The haploid human genome is worth 6 billion bits of digital information, because each base pair is theoretically worth 2-bits. How do we know this? Our haploid genome contains 3 billion base pairs, and only the sense strand contains the code. The codon is the basic unit of information of the DNA code. In all of nature there are no exceptions to this fact. Each codon consists of a unique triplet combination of its bases or nucleotides A, G, C, T. There are 64 possible unique triplet combinations of these molecules and every combination codes for (represents) one and only one amino acid. In all of Life there are no exceptions to this rule.
This amazing property makes the DNA code a combinational code. This allows us to assign 6-bits to each codon and there are 64 unique combinations of 6-bits. Therefore, each of the bases of the codon is worth 2-bits of binary information. Since the sense strand of the DNA molecule contains 3 billion bases and each base is worth 2-bits, the human genome is worth 6 billion bits of digital information.
A single gram of DNA can store 215 petabytes or 215 million gigabytes of digital information. One byte equals 8 bits. This makes DNA by far the most efficient, rugged, reliable, and dense digital storage scheme that exists.
Proteins — the Building Blocks of the Human Body
Proteins are complex molecules composed of amino acids. Proteins are the building blocks of the human body. The enzymes necessary to catalyze the biochemical reactions that keep us in good health are also proteins. There are over a thousand quintillion (a quintillion is 1 with 18 zeros after it, or 1e+18) biochemical reactions occurring in the human body every second. The length of the average human protein is about 400 amino acids.
When DNA is transcribed to form mRNA, uracil replaces thymine as the nucleotide that bonds to adenine. In the cell codons are formed by triplet combinations of the well-known nucleotides adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil (A, G, C, and U). For example, the codon CUC (cytosine-uracil-cytosine) represents or codes for the amino acid leucine (leu). Each codon represents (symbolizes or codes for) one and only one amino acid. Since there are 64 codons and 21 amino acids, several codons may be assigned to one amino acid. Amino acids form the proteins and enzymes that are used to create and maintain the human body.
Codons are decoded to amino acids at the ribosome. It is at the ribosome that the amino acids are strung together to forms the proteins. The ribosome is the decoder that creates the amino acid chain that form the proteins. Thus, every cell in the human body contains symbols that represent a huge quantity of stored information.
The nature and complexity of this information that is stored in our chromosomes (our DNA) is far above the human mind to comprehend. Human science cannot create even one enzyme or protein from scratch. And we have almost no knowledge of how to design a new protein or enzyme or how to predict what their biochemical properties might be. The human body produces about 1.2e+20 proteins per hour.
Is DNA Code Degenerate?
It has become a dictum of reference biochemistry textbooks that the DNA Code is a degenerate code. I believe the word “degenerate” has associated with it the connotation of corruption or second-rate in the sense that the DNA Code is somehow poorly written or second class. Actually, “redundant” is a much better description of the Code than “degenerate”. The Code exhibits a carefully designed redundancy (as opposed to degeneracy) that minimizes the harmful effects caused by mutation.
It is safe to say that without the carefully designed redundancy that is built into the Code human life as we know it would be impossible. For example, a mutation in the third place or position of the codon is not harmful because of the design of the Code. Mutations that affect the first and second places in the codon are often harmful but may be minimized by the careful design of the code.
If this redundancy, where many amino acids possess carefully and intelligently assigned codons from the 64 possible codons, did not exist, the Code would have no ability to overcome or minimize harmful mutations. As mentioned there are 1.5e+84 possible unique DNA codes. Not even billions of years of evolution selecting out the most beneficial DNA code can overcome the enormity of this number and create the DNA code of Life.
DNA and Computer Code
The DNA Code possesses an additional property which is quite remarkable. It qualifies as a computer code. Computer codes must satisfy three stringent requirements: 1) every input can have one and only one output. 2) All the inputs and outputs must be accounted for even if they are never used. 3) All computer codes are combinational codes
Let us consider the DNA Code in this regard. Each codon (input) creates one and only one amino acid (output) which satisfies (1). Next, every amino acid (all the outputs) has an assigned codon, and every codon is assigned to either an amino acid or is a Stop codon. A Stop codon terminates the process of translation. This satisfies (2). In the above paragraphs we have already shown that the DNA code is a combinational code which satisfies (3).
In every organism that has ever lived there are no exceptions to these properties. In summary, the DNA Code is a well-designed very elegant computer-like code that exhibits a very necessary redundancy in order to mitigate against the effects of harmful mutations. We will have much more to say about this computer-like quality in an upcoming article.
The Human Cell and Information
In closing we would like to discuss one more topic. In terms of bits and bytes exactly how much digital information does the average human cell contain? In so doing we will consider the haploid genome or twenty-three chromosomes. Three billion bases (nucleotides) are worth 6 billion bits of information, since we have seen that each base is worth 2-bits of digital information. This amounts to 750 megabytes since a byte is worth 8-bits. A CD can hold 770 megabytes of digital information or about one hour of music. Below are two quotes taken off the internet:
“For example, a typical album of songs stored as uncompressed WAV files takes up 640MB of space. “
“Each gene (DNA structural gene—auth. note) has protein-coding regions that are referred to as exons. The human genome contains about 180,000 exons, which are collectively called an exome. An exome comprises about 1% of the human genome and hence is about 30 million nucleotides in size. (www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov)
However, we know that, on average, the exons of each DNA structural gene can be spliced together by the cell in several ways to create about three proteins per structural gene (p.970 of Voet). Voet also states on p.969 that the exons of our estimated 21,000 structural genes can be spliced together in various combinations to create the estimated 100,000 or more proteins found in the human body. Even so, our exons (exome) can be equal to no more than 7.5 MB of digital information.
If we assume that a typical CD has sixteen songs of 40 megabytes per song, we can see that our entire exome of 30 million nucleotides is less digital information than one typical 40 MB song on a CD. Nevertheless, the human body operates off this quite small amount of digital information per cell, especially when one considers that the average cell utilizes only about 10-20% of its structural genes under normal operating conditions:
“In a differentiated cell, only 10 to 20% of the genes are active. Different sets of active genes make a skin cell different from a brain cell.” Learn Genetics Utah https://learn.genetics.utah.edu.
Yet no one in the mainstream scientific community has asked the questions: “Could the human body be missing an enormous amount of its genes?” Could the noncoding DNA also known as junk DNA be the result of massive genomic corruption due to a genetic toxin as opposed to billions of years of evolution?”
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