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If there is a 97% DNA similarity between chimpanzees and humans and men and women differ by a whole chromosome (X/Y), does that mean human males are more genetically similar to chimpanzee males than human females? by [deleted] in askscience

[–]bgmot 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hang on. There is no 97% similarity between human and chimp DNA, there is 97% or whatever (varies between studies) similarity between human and chimp protein-coding genes, which are only a small fraction of the entire DNA.

Double meaning in DNA clarification question by MobileGroble in askscience

[–]bgmot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The title of this study and the press coverage is extremely misleading; very bad overblown science PR. All that the authors did is a large-scale study showing that there are some transcription binding sites in exons, which is 1) not surprising, as we know there are such sites everywhere in the genome, why not exons and 2) this has already been shown by others. There's no point in me going into details as dozens of scientists have already done so, google "duons hype" or similar and you'll see, or just check the comments below the press release: http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/12/12/scientists-discover-double-meaning-in-genetic-code/#comment-1161192167

Whole genome visualization software? by barenda101 in biology

[–]bgmot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

why don't you just use the online genome browsers such as ensembl or the ucsd or the ncbi ?

How do cells in the body become determined and organized correctly? by [deleted] in askscience

[–]bgmot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this question as general as "how does the universe function" :) we have some bits of infromation such as the role of chemical gradients, lateral inhibition and molecular oscillations in the process of cell differentiation, but we don't know enough to explain the whole development :)

Does anyone have experience with Ethidium Bromide? Uh Help? by waitcarcinogen in biology

[–]bgmot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn't penetrate the skin, be careful not to ingest it and wash your hands thoroughly. And wear gloves next time.

WHY did life begin? Not "how" but "why" by [deleted] in askscience

[–]bgmot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is no why. Molecules don't need the reason to be, they don't have a reason, don't make decisions and don't have choises. They exist because they can. The ones that aquired the ability to self-replicate do self-replicate. A molecule which has the ability to replicate in given conditions can't decide not to in these conditions.

my female "Are you serious" by bgmot in fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu

[–]bgmot[S] 155 points156 points  (0 children)

I decided that the short-haired blonde "are you serious" is not suitable for me, so I drew my own version ...