Gene theory

Carlson, E. A. (1971), An unacknowledged founding of molecular biology H. J. Muller s contributions to gene theory, 1910-1936 , Journal of the History of Biology, 4, 149-170. 

Gilbert, S. (1978), The embryological origins of the gene theory Journal of the History of Biology, 11, 307-351. 

Morgan TH (1926) Genetics and the physiology of development Am Nat 60 489-515 Muller HJ (1927) Artificial transmutation of the gene. Science 46 84-87 Muller HJ (1951) The development of the gene theory. In Dunn LC (ed) Genetics in the twentieth century. Macmillan, New York, pp 77-100... 

This is a restatement of Richard Dawkins selfish gene theory. Most biologists do not see the concept as a radical idea but as a helpful way of viewing natural selection. Of course our bodies are more than gene machines, as Dawkins is the first to admit but many harsh facts of life, such as illness, ageing and death, can best be understood rationally in these terms. 

In spite of its appeal, the hormone gene theory leaves many questions unanswered. First, it remains to be established that the effects on the genome and protein synthesis are primary and not secondary to subtle changes in other cellular mechanisms. Second, the selectivity of the hormone to specific target cells, specific chromosomes, and specific sites within the chromosome must be elucidated. And, third, there is no information on the molecular interaction between the genome and the hormone. 

A puzzling problem is that of the presence of two X chromosomes in the female. According to gene theory, duplication of the chromosome material in the genotype should lead to quantitative duplication of gene expression in the phenotype. The expression in the phenotype of a number of enzymes, blood coagulation proteins, etc. is known to be linked to the presence of X chromosomes. Yet the activity or the concentration of these proteins is the same in male and female. Therefore, Mary Lyon has proposed that one of the X chromosomes is repressed [90]. Repression... 

Selfish gene theory predicts that males (producers of less costly gametes) can afford to mate with any female (producers of more costly gametes) who might bear them some offspring (S, Chapter 3). If the cost of copulation is low, a few cross-species "mistakes" may be of little consequence to a male capable of many matings over a lifetime. 

A model called histone code theory includes more aspects of chromatin regulation which have been identified. The histone code theory predicts that histone acetylation and other posttranslational histone modifications serve as binding sites for regulatory proteins which mediate processes like gene transcription upon recruitment (see Fig. 2b) [3]. In this context histone modifications can be understood as... 

Varietal differences exist in all of these characteristics, and it is our theory that parents conferring the required traits should be combined. Depending on heritability and combining ability, we may add together genes for a number of useful characteristics, and a variety more resistant than any which has arisen by chance should be produced. Salt resistance is thus... 

A non-allergic mechanism imderlying precipitation of asthmatic attacks by aspirin in hypersensitive patients was proposed over 30 years ago [4]. It was founded on pharmacological inhibition of COX of arachidonic acid and explained a cross-reactivity between different NSAIDs varying in chemical structure. This COX theory was confirmed by several studies [11] and was further refined following discovery of the second COX isoenzyme - COX-2. At least two COX isoenzymes, COX-1 and COX-2, are coded by separate genes. Their role in inflammation, asthma and anaphylaxis has been reviewed previously [12]. 

Orphanides G, Reinberg D A unified theory of gene expression. Cell 2002 108 439. 

Theory of Gene Transfer with Activated PAMAM Dendrimers.232... 

Generalized relativstic effective core potentials (GRECP), ab initio calculations, P,T-odd interactions, 253-259 Gene transcription, multiparticle collisions, reactive dynamics, 108-111 Geometric transition state theory, 195-201 Gillespie s algorithm, multiparticle collisions, reactive dynamics, 109-111 Golden Rule approximation, two-pathway... 

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