Our four dimensional genome
Many people think DNA is like a recipe or an ordered set of instructions. This
is far too simplistic–because genomes operate in multiple dimensions. The first
dimension is the sequence of DNA letters. Unlike a book, these DNA letters can
be 'read' in different ways. For example, each part of a 'gene' can be used in
constructing multiple different proteins, a process controlled by other parts of
the genome—the second dimension. Then we must consider the arrangement of the
DNA in the nucleus, where genes are not randomly distributed, but cluster
together according to need—the third dimension. Even more impressively, the
chromosomes in the nucleus vary in shape according to the cell’s changing needs
over time—the fourth dimension. How could genomes operating in multiple
dimensions have evolved? A rare beneficial mutation that might enhance things in
one dimension would likely cause problems at other levels. Genomes look more and
more like the handiwork of a supremely intelligent programmer.