[AntonioLao]

I still don't understand why DNA molecules unzip before they can pair and replicate?

[michellemfry]

I wonder what initiated the unzipping, the molecule or the cell apparatus, when the cell apparatus was determined by the structure. It must allow piece repair instead of replicating entire strands of DNA.

[AntonioLao]

Originally Posted by michellemfry I wonder what initiated the unzipping

Could it be the urge to procreate?

[baudrunner]

Antonio, I am surprised that a man of your intelligence would find base pairing in the DNA molecule to be puzzling. Sure, it has something with stability, but everything to do with gene expression.

In order for the DNA molecule to restructure itself after one half of the gene segment is snipped off to create the template for protein synthesis, the existing single strand representing the other half more or less automatically pairs up with the corresponding complementary molecule and the DNA is whole again. The double helix provides the stability that maintains the integrity of the entire molecule. If DNA was a single linear molecule it would be snipped apart and the logistics for recombination would be virtually insurmountable.

[AntonioLao]

Originally Posted by baudrunner I am surprised that a man of your intelligence would find base pairing in the DNA moleucule to be puzzling.

From a physics point of view, which is understanding DNA at the quantum level. The DNA is really functioning at the micron level, the bases are at the level of nanometers. So, DNA seems like a biological emergence with its independent set of operational laws than one controlled by laws of physics.

[baudrunner]

I see.

This might bring us back to the anthropocentric nature of the Universe in that consciousness is predetermined to manifest itself as a cognizant entity and that the cognizant entity must express itself as a multi-cellular organism defined by its genetic code. Granted, that doesn't explain the how at the quantum level, but let's determine to find that out.

It seems thus far that I've touched on the molecular logic of it and also the pre- and post string rationalization of it insomuch as one can do this with the limited amount of gray matter one has at one's disposal (one being namely me), but I promise to give this some further thought as to the mechanisms in place that determine the organization at the quantum level, and, I hope without resorting to using God as the scapegoat. It's a great subject for investigation and I'm glad you brought it up. Now you've got me going. No doubt evolution comes into play.

[AntonioLao]

Originally Posted by baudrunner organization at the quantum level

An area of interest might be in the new science of quantum bio-dynamics or quantum brain dynamics (QBD).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_brain_dynamics

[baudrunner]

That QBD seemed to have potential for a brief moment but it got just too weird for me. Not enough science and too much conjecture. But back to DNA.

The sugar-phosphate groups tied together by those cytosine-guanine, thymine-adenine base pairings, in spite of the apparent complexity of the whole, make for a very simplistic structure. C is always paired with G; A is always paired with T. They make for a total of four possible groupings: C-G; G-C; A-T; and T-A. It becomes the sequential ordering of the base pairs in a gene, allowing for repetition, that provides the overall complexity of the molecule and individual diversity and uniqueness to the whole organism.

My thinking has returned to the patterns of nature being repeated at different levels. For example, the farther that two quarks are forced apart the stronger the energy is between them. When they come close together something called a gluon mediates their relationship such that they don't collide but instead marry. Similarly, the bringing together of molecules to form a functional component of a greater scheme, just like the quark joins two other quarks to make a proton, is also mediated, but by hydrogen which permeates throughout the organism and which bonds the bases together.

There is a tendency for organisations in nature to rotate and DNA is no exception. This probably catalyses the assembly during reconstruction after donating one half of a portion of its structure for template production for the purpose of protein synthesis.

On the one hand, the simplicity of the structure definitely suggests an evolutionary influence which is randomly guided. That is, probability is proportional to simplicity. On the other hand, the complex sequence of events that ultimately produce the characteristics or functions that are the product of the molecule's inherent coding suggests an intelligent blueprint. Because of the huge evolutionary time frame one might still lean toward randomness, and insomuch as necessity is the mother of invention and the need to evolve an adaptive trait is influenced externally, so we are still left with a survival of the fittest scenario, and this also implies limited self-determination.

It is probable that the accelleration of the process of evolution is proportional to the increase in cognizant self-awareness which in turn is proportional to the complexity of the whole organism. In other words, we had a guiding hand in our own evolution. Determination becomes the neutrino in the particle analogy.

[AntonioLao]

Originally Posted by baudrunner That QBD seemed to have potential for a brief moment but it got just too weird for me. Not enough science and too much conjecture. But back to DNA.

Thanks again for the wonderful images making this post more interesting. Back to QBD, the point I'm driving at is the organic polymer of sugar and the inorganic polymer of phosphate in the DNA. These suggest that even the DNA molecules are not strictly organic.

[baudrunner]

Not only that, but phosphate is a salt of phosphoric acid, therefore very active chemically. Most pharmaceutical products are precipitated as salts, making them stable on the shelf until absorbed by the body, when the hydrochloride portion of the active compound readily disassociates. While considered stable as the naturally occurring element, phosphorus is mildly radioactive, since nothing is ever found as a totally pure element. It is integral to life. Which begs the question, is radiactivity as chaotic as we think?