Genomics Confounds Gene Classification
By Michael Seringhaus, Mark Gerstein
Large-scale genomic studies challenge traditional definitions of genes and require new approaches to classifying life at the molecular level
This Article From Issue
November-December 2008
Volume 96, Number 6
Page 466
DOI: 10.1511/2008.75.466
Scientists strive to make sense of the natural world by defining its vital parts. As physicists anointed the atom, molecular biologists selected the gene as their basic unit. It was a smart choice: Virtually every observable property of any organism on Earth is derived from the action of one or more genes.
Hillel Steinberg/Alamy
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