I have some questions and would appreciate any non-complex replies (or at least not too complex!). First off: I understand that the majority of genes code for proteins. What do *most* of the non-protein coding genes code for?
My second question is: It seems to me that proteins are far more interesting in trying to get at the heart of life than genes. If proteins are the building blocks of living things (akin to, say, orgainic Lego bricks), then what makes millions of proteins organise themselves so exquisitely? Whilst I accept that self-organisation according to chemical and physical laws (charge affinities and such) must be crucial here, I cannot for the life of me grasp how conglomerates of proteins further and further organise themselves - and how, on a macroscopic level, it all hangs together so to speak. What I keep thinking is that there must be 'self-organising loops' in operation, or something, almost like there is a 'field' at work (like the way a magnetic field wil organise iron filings). Does anyone else ponder these type of questions? Does anyone care? Or is it 'been there, done that, old hat'?
™ Version 4.2