Compiled and Edited by: Blaire de Borja (Helitron)
Polintons,
in simpler sense, are a type of genes that jump from genome to genome - like a
ping pong ball moving from one table side to another. What is very unique about
Polintons is that, unlike other “jumping genes”, it can produce its own
proteins to double itself. In fact, its very name was derived from two enzymes that allow them to replicate: polymerase and integrase. With a genome that is relatively large, Polintons can
encode up to 10 different proteins. More surprisingly, some studies suggest
that Polintons could potentially have the ability to form viruses. Because of
its peculiar characteristics that represent the lovely and mysterious nature of
genetics, it then became the name of the 104th batch of Genesoc.
The sole
member of Batch Polintons is Renald James Legaspi who is a 3rd year BS
Biology – Major in Genetics student. To know more about Renald here is a short
biography narrated by him about his life experiences and personality.
At the
age of 7, his father bought him a Gameboy Advance, the first gadget he got.
From then, he loved to play virtual games. Supermario
brothers was his first love, Balloon
fight was his first frustration and Megaman
was his first hero. He also loves cartoons like Pokemon, Doraemon, Digimon and even Mojacko. His childhood was filled with fantasies and dreams of a
kid. With such love to games, Renald believes in heroism and might even dream
of becoming one.
Besides
having such undeniable love for video games, he also spends his leisure time
writing articles and poetries. In fact, he even became a part of the journalism
club back when he was in high school, earning medals and recognition not just
from writing but also from singing, academics and his science inventions; with
his creative mind it seems that he’s unstoppable which is why he found himself
entering the most prestigious state university in the Philippines.
After
high school, where he graduated with honors, he entered a dramatic period of
his life. College life is not really hard for him just except for certain
episodes. There are circumstances wherein he needed to make a decision based on
his religion-based values or based from what the society dictates. Such
circumstances make him feeble and weak. However, he is still learning the ways
of life just like a Polinton, jumping from one genome to another but still
retaining parts of it. Because to him, it is very important that no matter what
happens, your past is always a big part of who you are and what will you be.
The
newest member of the society hopes that his enthusiasm for the field of
Genetics will not be limited in the four corners of the classroom but will be
widely shared to the people who can benefit from his knowledge. He desires to
put a remarkable memory on the gene pool as he develops himself inside the
organization.
References:
Kapitonov, V. V.; Jurka, J.
(14 March 2006). "Self-synthesizing DNA transposons in
eukaryotes". Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. 103 (12):
4540–4545. doi:10.1073/pnas.0600833103
Krupovic, Mart; Koonin, Eugene V. (22 December 2014).
"Polintons: a hotbed of
eukaryotic virus, transposon
and plasmid evolution". Nature
Reviews Microbiology. 13 (2): 105–115. doi:10.1038/nrmicro3389
Krupovic, Mart;
Koonin, Eugene V (June 2016). "Self-synthesizing
transposons:
unexpected key players in the evolution
of viruses and defense systems". Current
Opinion in Microbiology. 31:
25–33. doi:10.1016/j.mib.2016.01.006
Posts
0 Comments