Chapter 5: Dark Places (Comments due Saturday, 2/28, 5 p.m.)

• Carroll introduces us to the "dark matter" of genetics in this chapter. What exactly is Carroll referring to when he describes the dark matter of genetics?

• What new things did you learn in this chapter that helped your understanding of genetics or is applicable to what we are learning in lecture?

• Carroll seems to rush us through a very complex lecture over a new idea in genetics. What did you find most confusing or irritating in Carroll's explanation of dark matter?

Thanks for the questions, Beau!, overachiever.

Btw*, it may be helpful to note that the DNA "signature sequences" Carroll describes on pages 118-119, for instance, are the same as enhancer sequences we talked about in class. The "toolkit proteins" he talks about are in general, transcriptional activators.

*Btw, if you were to say what this abbreviation stands for in conversation, it would make the most sense to say, "by the way," a phrase that is three syllables long. It would be silly to say "bee-tee-double-u," because this is five syllables long, and the whole point of abbreviations is to save time, eh?