The histone code is a simple code

The histone code is a simple code ››: Of the four lysine residues on the histone tail implicated in transcriptional control, only one functions individually as a determinant; the other three are non-combinatorial cumulative effectors. In other words, with the exception of K16, only the number of deacetylated lysines matters and not which lysines are acetylated or not. (Provisos: this work was done in yeast and involved K-to-R induced mutations rather than covalent modifications). Interesting because it contravenes current buzzword orthodoxy: being "combinatorial" seems almost expected of biological phenomena sometimes, a bit like how the natural world had to be "fractal" a few years ago, and "quantum" before that. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail; when all you have is a cheese-grater, everything looks like cheese; when all you have is one salient scientific artifact/concept like "quanta" or "catastrophe theory", every book advance goes to someone who can cast the world as a contingent and catastrophically stochastic quantum foam flux with combinatorially fractal negentropic overtones [delete as applicable]. (This PNAS paper is Open Access); [Permalink…29-Mar-05…Deserving memes……Comments (0)]

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