suggestive of a third strand being activated
(or should we say re-connected?). This is
a notion I will return to in a future article
elaborating on these important themes,
which appear over and over in “New Age”
material, including Barbara Marciniak’s
compelling Bringers of the Dawn, which
posits that we are supposed to be functioning on twelve strands(!) Not long ago,
I met an innovative Australian scientist
who had a DNA sample studied and was
informed that he had at least six functional
strands, which the stunned scientists in
question had never seen before. This was
kept quiet, obviously.
In early September 2012, scientists from
the Encode project confirmed, after having
analyzed all 3 billion pairs of genetic code
comprising our DNA, that far more of it is
biologically active than had been widely
believed: 80% is in fact performing a specific function, confirming that most non-protein-coding “junk” DNA isn’t junk at all.
Perhaps more importantly in the
context of the foregoing discussion, these
scientists have also identified 4 million
“switch genes”, which are sections of DNA
that control when genes are switched on or
off in cells. These can even be a long way
from the actual gene they control (if you’re
Speculative Conclusions and Visions for
talking about an uncoiled DNA strand).
the Future
Many switches are linked to changes in risk
levels for various diseases and disorders,
In 2003, the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements and we have the field of epigenetics to
(“Encode”) genome research project was
thank for proving that local environmental
launched. Pooling the resources of over
triggers (including stress) are ultimately
400 scientists over thirty-two laboratories
more important in determining the activathroughout the UK, US, Spain, Singapore,
tion or silencing of certain genes—and
and Japan, it is the largest research project therefore our biological health—than inherinto the human genome yet conducted.
ent genetic defects (which account only for