From STEVE BRULE
The letter from Hedley Lester (15 January) makes a good point about
the hasty labelling of 90 per cent of human DNA as junk. We are often too
quick to discount what we do not understand as being unimportant (or even
non-existent). Given the subtlety with which our Universe operates, it seems
more likely that this ‘junk DNA’ plays some kind of role which we are not
yet able to understand – perhaps a role all the more important because of
its subtlety. However, it will probably remain ‘junk’ until we discover
that it is vitally important.
‘The universe has no spare parts’ (I do not know who first said that),
but it has an awful lot of humans eager to throw out the bits that do not
fit their pet model.
Steve Brule Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
