What is a just-so story?
As I and others have noted many times, facts, theories, and hypotheses are independent elements in the scientific process. Contrary to their vernacular meanings, they are not ranks indicating...
View ArticlePrimitive versus [blank].
Wilhelm Johannsen, who coined such terms as “gene”, “genotype”, and “phenotype”, noted in 1911 that, It is a well-established fact that language is not only our servant, when we wish to express – or...
View ArticleTalkin’ Terminology: "parallel" vs. "convergent" evolution.
Ok, here are two terms that are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes not, and when they’re not, they are used in various ways. Parallel evolution Convergent evolution For this installment of...
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Omnigenomics.
Sometimes it is helpful to have a catchy word to describe one’s type of research. I think that’s why “omics” words are so popular — they encapsulate a complex combination of approaches (usually...
View ArticleWho is a scientist?
The discussion about the definition of “professional scientist” has been interesting, with a range of opinions shown. But this raises the question — what criteria make someone a “scientist”, or even a...
View ArticleProfessional, scientist, and bait-and-switch.
The discussion about my usage of the term “professional scientist” has raised a lot of objections. Mostly I think these have been emotional, and in fact it’s pretty clear what is happening. People are...
View ArticleDN/A.
For some time, I have wanted a new term for the broad category of DNA otherwise commonly referred to as “junk DNA”, i.e., everything other than genes and gene regulatory elements. “Non-coding DNA” is...
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The Platypus Fallacy.
I see, with rather alarming frequency, a major fallacy creeping in to discussions of human evolutionary history and how one may infer details about it. Specifically, there is a tendency to examine the...
View Article80%* of the genome is functional*!
You’re going to be hearing a lot about the ENCODE project for the next little while. 30 papers were released today, and there is plenty of media attention already. Lots of it is of the standard “it’s...
View ArticleSusumu Ohno did not coin the term “junk DNA”— a must-read by Dan Graur.
Anyone interested in the topic of “junk DNA” should go and read this fine piece of detective work by Dan Graur immediately!...
View ArticleComments on "Noncoding DNA and Junk DNA" (re-post).
The following is a re-post of my comments on the recently posted Noncoding DNA and Junk DNA at Sandwalk. Needless to say, I am quite pleased to see such active discussion about non-coding DNA. Passages...
View ArticleA quick word about species names.
This is a very quick post about something that is annoying to many biologists — the misuse of species names. It is prompted by a news headline I just saw, which is about the 106th time I have seen this...
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Decoding the blueprint. Sigh.
The results of the proof-of-principle phase of ENCODE, the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements Project, appear in the June 14 issue of Nature. It’s a very interesting project, and it has revealed a few more...
View ArticleFunction, non-function, some function: a brief history of junk DNA.
It is commonly suggested by anti-evolutionists that recent discoveries of function in non-coding DNA support intelligent design and refute “Darwinism”. This misrepresents both the history and the...
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Dog’s Ass Plots (DAPs).
The word logodaedaly means “a capricious coinage of words”. It was coined by Plato in the 4th century BC (as “wordsmith”) and picked up by Ben Johnson in 1611 in its current English usage. That’s...
View ArticleOn the lookout for DAPs!
Larry Moran and PZ have both picked up on the term “DAP“. There have already been several more examples identified outside the realm of genomics in their comments threads. As such, I think that “DAP”...
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