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A comment on Neurons Constantly Alter Their DNA (2015). Parent comment

Re:Neurons Constantly Alter Their DNA (2015) by kordless on Monday May 30, 2016 @06:28PM (#11803580)
Actually, it's been a thing for a while that we know the brain has somatic mutations which cause the DNA to differ from cell to cell. While the epigenetic tags are also affected, it goes beyond attaching tags. The brain literally rewrites its own DNA.

https://www.genomeweb.com/sequencing-technology/single-neuro...

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Re:Neurons Constantly Alter Their DNA (2015) by astazangasta on Monday May 30, 2016 @09:39PM (#11804104)
Acquiring somatic mutations is not "rewriting its own DNA", it's just acquiring mutations. You can't replicate a piece of DNA without the chance of a mutation happening. The error rate in humans is about 1e-9 mutations/base, so by the time you've grown a brain you're likely to have a whole bunch of somatic mutations just by chance.
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Re:Neurons Constantly Alter Their DNA (2015) by yread on Tuesday May 31, 2016 @04:26AM (#11805392)
Better link without paywall and with link to actual article

http://neurosciencenews.com/neuron-lineage-genetics-2792/

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