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Central Dogma (new)
Coined by Shankar Subramaniam during 1999, it is a restatement of the (old) former "Central Dogma" to include the fact that an organism's environment/activity also impact when and how and how much some of its genes are expressed (e.g, to cause certain proteins to be "manufactured"). Environmental factors impacting gene expression include temperature, sunlight, humidity, consumption of some vitamins, presence of certain bacteria, presence of signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs), etc.

For example, the eggs of the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) yield a larger fraction of male offspring when those eggs are incubated in the nest (made of rotting vegetation) at temperatures above 90oF (32oC) than when those eggs are incubated at temperatures below 90oF (32oC).

Recent research indicates that physical exercise changes the expression levels of some genes (within human skeletal muscles) involved in the body's metabolism of carbohydrates.

That (Central Dogma) restatement also expressly includes the fact that more than one protein can result from each gene in an organism's genome [e.g., due to interactions between genes, interactions between genes & their protein products (e.g., STATs), interactions between genes & histones, and interactions between genes & some environmental factors]. Mechanistically, this results in (different) proteins via:

  • alternative splicing of the mRNA transcript. For example, the COX-3 enzyme is produced in the human body when intron 1 is retained in the mRNA transcript during transcription of the COX-1 gene. For example, a single intronic base substitution that is present within the IKAP gene (the allele responsible for the human disease known as Familial Dysautonomia) affects the splicing of the IKAP transcript (i.e., the mRNA segment that determines which protein is subsequently "manufactured" by relevant cells).
  • varying translation start or stop site (on the gene).
  • frameshifting (i.e., different set of triplet codons in the mRNA is translated).
  • contiguous genes.
  • recombination of some gene segments.


CENTRAL DOGMA (OLD),  ORGANISM,  MOLECULAR GENETICS,  COMPLEMENTARY DNA (c-DNA),  GENE,  ALLELE,  PROTEIN,  ENZYME,  REPLICATION (OF VIRUS),  TRANSCRIPTION,  TRANSLATION,  DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID (DNA),  GENOME,  RIBONUCLEIC ACID (RNA),  MESSEGNGER RNA (mRNA),  TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS,  RIBOSOMES,  SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION,  SIGNAL TRANSDUCERS AND ACTIVATORS OF TRANSCRIPTION (STATs),  PHOTOPERIOD,  GENE EXPRESSION,  ALTERNATIVE SPLICING,  GENE SPLICING,  SPLICING,  SPLICE VARIANTS,  FRAMESHIFT,  CODON,  INTRON,  PHARMACOENVIROGENETICS,  CYCLOOXYGENASE,  METABOLISM,  CARBOHYDRATES,  TRANSCRIPTOME,  ACTIVATOR (OF GENE),  CONTIGUOUS GENES,  EPIGENETIC,  VITAMIN,  HISTONES



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