Redefining the gene

In a paper appearing in the June 2007 special ENCODE issue of Genome Research, Gerstein et al. update the definition of a gene while elaborating on the complexity of gene regulation that has been discovered in recent years. I love this comparison to computer operating systems (OS):
"The execution of the genomic OS does not have as neat a quality as this idea of repetitive calls to a discrete subroutine in a normal computer OS. However, the framework of describing the genome as executed code still has some merit. That is, one can still understand gene transcription in terms of parallel threads of execution, with the caveat that these threads do not follow canonical, modular subroutine structure. Rather, threads of execution are intertwined in a rather "higgledy-piggledy" fashion, very much like what would be described as a sloppy, unstructured computer program code with lots of GOTO statements zipping in and out of loops and other constructs."

Read the full paper in Genome Research
Illustration courtesy: KLV.nl

The pope and darwinism

Religion and science sometimes clash - mostly when both claim they have the explanation of everything. The International Theological Commission compiled the Vaticans views on evolution in a chapter called 'Science and the stewardship of knowledge' as parts 62-70 of 'Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God'. In this text they do not express a denial of evolution, but rather an acceptance that the evolutionary theory is compatible with the existence of God.

In summary paragraph 69. makes an interesting statement (here paraphrased by Philip):
According to the church both
(1) the neo-Darwinists that deny God because the incorrectly conclude 'purely materialistic evolution (A) -> no God (B)' and
(2) the intelligent design disciples which say "'purely materialistic evolution -> no God' is a wrong conclusion -> evolution is wrong" (i.e. not(A->B) -> C)
are *equally* wrong (the former because their conclusion (A->B) is wrong, the latter because they think that evolution exactly means (A->B) which it doesn't).

This is a very diplomatic and logical point of view expressed by the church. From reading this, my personal opinion about the pope and statements from the church has been shifted towards a more positive attitude.

See also:
Catholic opinions on evolutionary origins - Atheism.about.com
Evolution and the pope - Catholic.net