Praise of chromosome "folly" confessions of an untamed molecular structure - Lima-de-Faria, A. (World Scientific Pub. Co., 2008)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes
pt. I. The source of "folly" and the reason for confessions. 1. I am an inconspicuous and unattractive creature painted with lipstick. 2. They say that I resemble a sausage. 3. The cell is my castle and prison but I may swim and dance like an odalisque in a harem. 4. The striptease show - how I dress and undress at every cell division. 5. I have created my own private world full of tricks, back door exits and novel solutions - I am an untamed innovator. 6. My origins were humble - the antithetical nature of matter left a mark on my construction. 7. My split personality - the source of "folly". 8. The reason for confessions. 9. I have been abused and covered with insults. 10. The wisdom of the foolish. 11. Scientific concepts are prone to change throughout time - the nature of science demands that previous ideas be superseded, as new technologies allow a deeper insight into matter. 12. What seems ludicrous at a given time turns out to be the correct explanation several years later.
- The gene was considered to consist of protein, but is now known to be a ribbon of DNA. 13. In the last 20 years the number of human genes was reduced from 200,000 to 32,000, and this figure remains uncertain. 14. The models of chromosomes have varied drastically with time --
- pt. II. Who cares for gravity. 15. The chromosome in its organization and activity follows its own path - it does not obey gravity, randomness, selection or magnetism. 16. Definition of gravity - Newton's laws are good for planets and apples. 17.What is a force - the four fundamental forces. 18. Newton's laws do not apply in quantum mechanics. 19. Not all bodies fall when unsupported. 20. The ascent of sap in trees - another unexplained phenomenon. 21. An unknown process decides which cells are going to grow in the direction of gravity and which are going to counteract it. 22. Physicists construct antigravity devices that oblige frogs and plants to float. 23. Atoms hide many properties that may disclose the mechanisms behind living processes - liquid helium can build a fountain ejecting itself out of a flask. 24. Levitation in metals - what was impossible became possible. 25. Animals, like plants, have created devices that counteract gravity. 26.
- In giraffes the distance between the heart and the head is over two meters. 27. No chromosome obeys Newton's laws - in their movements chromosomes bypass gravity. 28. Chromosomes move in all directions of the mariner's compass. 29. It is the programmed pattern of the organism that decides the direction of movement. 30. The devices used by the chromosome which result in particular movements. 31. Chromosomes move inside the nucleus, like goldfish in an aquarium, without the use of spindle fibers. 32. The chromosome's autonomy takes many forms - the chromosome ends may take over the function of active mobility on the spindle. 33. Chromosomes inherited from the father may be sent to a different compartment than those inherited from the mother. 34. How to move equally well without guiding asters and centrosomes. 35. DNA replication already disregarded gravity. 36. Mineral crystallization disposes also of gravity and imposes massive copying. 37.